not memorable for me and remember it was surprisingly long for the genre. I'll say it again though. Kudos to HKV for bringing it out in the first place, despite my reservations. Shows a respect towards all Hong Kong cinema.
You reckon HKV will be pursuing more Hong Kong New Wave? Nomad, early Ann Hui or Allen Fong stuff etc? Dramas though...
You reckon HKV will be pursuing more Hong Kong New Wave?
I reckon they'll release everything in their catalogue eventually.
Don't know what's in it, though.
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
Father & Son, Ah Ying, Story Of Woo-Viet, Boat People and Nomad would be welcome inclusions in there. I know few others that are searching for titles like that.
Magic Cop – 4,5/5
Lazy opening scene but the rest is pure gold. Filled with genuine HK movie essence. Action is nice, the soundtrack is excellent, the girls are cute, special effects are great (there isn’t much of them, this isn’t a trick fest like some other films in the genre) a few words of japanese is spoken, Billy Chow kicks ass and Lam Ching Ying proves he is the coolest guy on planet earth. One of the best HK movies of the early 90’s.
Running on Karma – 3/5
Very, very weird film. Buddhist philosophy, supernatural elements, serious drama, romance, comedy, gore and wife-fu action... the films is a mess. But a rather interesing mess, may I add. Nice to see Cecilia Cheung in a decent film like this. I last saw her in Failan which was waste of time.
Double Vision – 3,5/5
This is something new: a serial killer film that stands out. Sure, it borrows from several other films (Se7en, Silence of the Lambs, The X-Files, Black Rain... to mention a few) but somehow the old ingredients have been blend together so that they create something fresh and exciting. The outcome is unusually stable, with the film getting better and better little by little so that you don’t even pay attention the developement until after the movie when you realize how much the movie grew during its 113 min running time. It probably won’t blow you away, but it’s an impressive film nevertheless. Too bad there’s one half-fatal misjudgement by the director that brings down the entirety by a small degree.
Une corde, un Colt – 4/5
Terrific western with a soundtrack that equals Morricone’s best work.
Tempo di massacro – 3/5
How ironic that the first Lucio Fulci film I see is a western... Mostly standard stuff but the ending is dynamite. Seems like a huge influence to John Woo.
Lethal Ninja – 3,5/5
Great in parts. The opening, the ending, the soundtrack, single scenes here and there. Ninjas are always a good thing, too. But something is missing between high lights. 3,5/5 but only barely.
Night of the Creeps – 2,5/5
I don’t know if it’s just me but the early high school scenes made me almost physically sick. Americanism in the most disgusting sense of the word. It got much less irritating as the movie advanced and the ending was fantastic. A school girl with a flame thrower.... That kick ass even in case of an american girl.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics – 2/5
Fukasaku’s highly acclaimed yakuza epic is getting weaker by every entry. The original film was a great start, the next two were light on story but had some great supporting performers like Shinichi Chiba, Meiko Kaji and Reiko Ike. This fourth instalment is like an empty shell, mainly a collection of violent gang fights with some politics thrown in. The first 30 minutes is miserable, thankfully the rest fares a bit better. I quite liked the arrest scene.
Virus (Fukkatsu no hi) – 4,5/5
Terrific disaster movie, probably the best I’ve ever seen. Huge scale (taking place in several countries around the world in several different languages), huge cast (Sonny Chiba, Robert Vaughn, Olivia Hussey etc.), huge adventure. A movie with a capital M.
Just watched Fearless: director's cut. Great movie, great performance by Jet, and good to see him do a wushu flick, and the fightscenes are actually good. It's been a while.
4.5 outta 5.
I was there, the big BNB blackout of november, 2008. We lost many that day...
Harrowing domestic drama with a revenge undertone. Most on display is more or less ticked off in a standard manner but latter scenes showing Eddie Chan as the psycho killer machine he becomes after his son dies are quite disturbing.
Entergetic fun and un-pc thanks to Wong Jing's hand in the writing but director Wellson Chin (The Inspectors Wears Skirts, Thou Shalt Not Swear) steers this boat perfectly allright towards entertainment island. Plot? Amy Yip plays the Evil Girl who aims for immortality by draining virgin men of their sperm. Shing Fui-On leads the wacky supporting character gallery as the wizard in leather who is chasing Yip's character.
Really enjoyed the film and the action was good too. A little too much CG in one of hte fights though. Not seen the non director's cut so can't compare. But highly enjoyable, although in some ways it does compare in places to The Last Samurai!!
The rape scenes were unpleasant but I reckon that was the point... some great fights The last fight (Sammo v Fung Hark On) is cool In fact the whole finale (where Sammo and San Te take on a whole load of bad guys) is great 8)
Is "Monk Shan Teh" (?) the same character as San Te from the 36th Chamber movies?
The Old Grey Whistle Test - 3.5/5
There are some great tracks here - Elton John (Tiny Dancer), an early Randy Newman (the satirical "Political Science"), Bill Withers (Ain't No Sunshine) Rory Gallagher (the bluesy rocktune Hands Off), John Lennon (Stand By Me), Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd) etc, which is a top song even though it doesnt know when to finish - but some odd stuff too.
Give My Compliments To The Chef (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band), and Upon The My O My (Captain Beefheart) sound just plain wierd. I liked the song Tom Trauberts Blues (Waltzing Matilda) but to my ears Tom Waits sounded awful, I can understand a growly voice but this went beyond a growl almost to the point of parody and wasn't that pleasant. A pity.
What else has he sung?
Last edited by grim_tales on 31 Jan 2007, 14:36, edited 1 time in total.
HungFist wrote:Magic Cop – 4,5/5
Lazy opening scene but the rest is pure gold. Filled with genuine HK movie essence. Action is nice, the soundtrack is excellent, the girls are cute, special effects are great (there isn’t much of them, this isn’t a trick fest like some other films in the genre) a few words of japanese is spoken, Billy Chow kicks ass and Lam Ching Ying proves he is the coolest guy on planet earth. One of the best HK movies of the early 90’s.
Ohhh I may watch this again :0 you just sparked some memories
grim_tales wrote:Is "Monk Shan Teh" (?) the same character as San Te from the 36th Chamber movies?
I would presume so.
but to my ears Tom Waits sounded awful
Not just your ears. Have you heard his excruciating version of Downtown Train? Makes Rod Stewart sound like Dean Martin.
No I haven't, I've only heard his "Tom Traubert's Blues" (which he wrote). Nice song but he really should lay off the cigars, Rod Stewart's version is sung much better IMO.
Watched Casino Royale at the cinema today with my girlfriend. Absolutely loved it. 5 outta 5. Craig should have gotten an oscar nod. The acting is tremendous in this movie.
I was there, the big BNB blackout of november, 2008. We lost many that day...
Special movie for me as it introduced me to Lam Ching Ying. One of teh very best Mr. Vampire related flicks and would've made an excellent series on its own.
Yi-Long wrote:Watched Casino Royale at the cinema today with my girlfriend. Absolutely loved it. 5 outta 5. Craig should have gotten an oscar nod. The acting is tremendous in this movie.
Yeah, been meaning to go and watch this for a while now, but didnt really find the time.
Today was the 6th year anniversary of me and my girlfriend, so that was a good excuse to go watch a flick together. Like many women, she went in hating Bond and Bond movies, from what little she had seen and knows about it. She came out impressed, liking the movie and Daniel Craig very very much. So that was good news.
I was there, the big BNB blackout of november, 2008. We lost many that day...
It thinks its clever by tricking us into thinking it's about undercover cops being murdered by wacked out triad assassins (Wilson Tong being one, his thing being Taoist practicioning to achieve some form of immortality) but instead after endless wandering in the dark, it turns out to be about a mad bomber. Yea, very clever and to find that footing as late as it does, considering the flick clocks in under 80 minutes, is a big no-no. Then there's the very open ending that either is cut or the money ran out at a point so the plug was pulled on the production. Norman Tsui stars.
Yi-Long wrote:Seriously though, the guy must have been working out like a beast, if you compare his 007 physique compared to his body a few years ago. Much respect.
Apart from the alley fight and Bruce v Chuck, it's not a great film IMO Rather slow. There were some parts I couldn't remember (I watched it in Mandarin).
At the airport Bruce looks at the picture of Nora Miao he has been given (she is at her loveliest here ) before recognising her.
When Bruce goes to the toilet, because he has never seen one before he flushes it a few times, a guy looks in on what Bruce is doing, and then Bruce closes the door.
When John Benn says "Be careful with the gun in public" he sounds like someone doing an impression of Bruce
It's annoying that the "Whistle Test" DVD I had, had NO EXTRAS at all, despite them being listed on the back of the box (it was a cheapo Dutch DVD which cd-woiw claimed was a port of the UK R2). For the price (£3.99) I shouldnt really complain, but still...
Plot? Amy Yip plays the Evil Girl who aims for immortality by draining virgin men of their sperm. Shing Fui-On leads the wacky supporting character gallery as the wizard in leather who is chasing Yip's character.
In fact the whole finale (where Sammo and San Te take on a whole load of bad guys) is great 8)
Rather slow. There were some parts I couldn't remember (I watched it in Mandarin).
