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

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Feb 2007, 17:11

thelostdragon wrote:What? I gave "High Voltage" 3.5/5. I love that film. Yes, it's trashy, but it has some nice Donnie Yen-fighting moments.

Yes, someone actually gave it almost the lowest score possible. Imagine that...and accept.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Feb 2007, 20:36

romerojpg wrote:But thats the way Swicks older films were like, and many of them are masterpieces. Glory is a stand out even now years later. Gloss doesnt hurt a film at all and he rarley makes anything but a great film.

It looks like I've only seen "Legends of the Fall" of his which I really liked.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 04 Feb 2007, 23:17

gasteropod wrote: I've just been to see Babel; it was very good. I haven't seen any of his other films, though.

I've seen it - gets 5/5 from me IMO.

BTW - what does Babel mean?

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 04 Feb 2007, 23:27

Babel is a biblical reference. This is what Wiki says:

According to the narrative in Genesis Chapter 11 of the Bible, the Tower of Babel was a tower built by a united humanity to reach the heavens. God, observing the unity of humanity in the construction, resolves to destroy the tower and confuse the previously uniform language of humanity, thereby preventing any such future efforts.

It's also why a lot of translation software uses 'Babel' in the title e.g., Babelfish etc. and I'm pretty sure that it's the etymological root of the word 'babble'.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 05 Feb 2007, 06:13

Pron. Bay-Bul

And I too gave High Voltage the lowest possible mark. It's shit like this that almost killed Donnie's career.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 05 Feb 2007, 10:53

Seoul Raiders 2.5/5

Tony Leung can do some brilliant films, and with this he proves he is human as it is very very average. Not that funny, some ok action, but at times it looks far too b movie wannabe action. I recall tokyo Raiders being far more entertaining.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Feb 2007, 14:36

Knetan wrote:
thelostdragon wrote:What? I gave "High Voltage" 3.5/5. I love that film. Yes, it's trashy, but it has some nice Donnie Yen-fighting moments.
Yes, someone actually gave it almost the lowest score possible. Imagine that...and accept.

LOL, I wasn't having a go at you there, mate.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 05 Feb 2007, 18:19

hey,

Calamity Of Snakes 2/5

Geez, will this spur a vicious debate? I mean...there is only about 10 minutes of awfully brutal footage with snakes being either hacked to pieces by humans or bitten to death by mongooses. All in "glorious" close-up and full detail. Yipes.

There's no plot to William Cheung's snake rampage movie but aside from violating every animal right known to man, it's quite an elaborately staged horror spectacle that certainly doesn't lack intensity. Just knowledge to make actual horror but it makes an imprint despite. For better or worse. Yipes.

Triva:

The LD & tape from Ocean Shores does not have subtitles, but believe me, you don't need them. If that release proves difficult to track down then check the action section of your local video store for a title on CIC/TAFT called Serpent Warriors (1985/D John Howard). This American movie about a snake-worshipping cult has over half its run time made up of the best footage from Calamity of Snake.

http://www.heroic-cinema.com/topten/topten_ian.htm

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 05 Feb 2007, 18:26

bradavon wrote:
romerojpg wrote:But thats the way Swicks older films were like, and many of them are masterpieces. Glory is a stand out even now years later. Gloss doesnt hurt a film at all and he rarley makes anything but a great film.
It looks like I've only seen "Legends of the Fall" of his which I really liked.

Crikey you didnt llike Glory

or Last Samurai?

Gloy is a masterpiece

just recently re-wawtched it again, amazing.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 Feb 2007, 18:31

Taifu Club - 5/5

I’ve tried to write this review before but I could never come up with a good explanation on what exactly is the thing that sets this movie appart from basically any other movie I’ve seen. Yesterday watched the movie again (I don’t know for how manieth time, I lost the count last year) and felt like trying again. Here goes...

Taifu Club has something real, something genuine that makes it flow freely, unlike any other movie I can think of. It doesn’t feel staged or forced. It makes almost all my other favourite movies feel more or less superficial. In case of those movies I can specify the elements that make them so great. Visuals, strong performances, great soundtrack etc. But if you took those elements away there wouldn’t be much left. Like an empty shell, nothing or very little inside, no soul. In case of Taifu Club it’s not like that. There’s something real and pure that shines from the inside. Start the movie from any scene and watch 10 seconds of it and you’re hooked. No matter if there’s something happening on screen or not.

Taifu Club has the traditional strongpoints as well. First of all, the young actors are all worderful. No one’s trying to stand out too much which is good, that would’ve weakened the film. Almost all characters in the film are important so no one should be outshadowed. The music used in the film nornally wouldn’t impress me so much but here the music and the images are fit together perfectly. Add the beautiful visuals and camera work and you’ll understand why this film features some of my favourite scenes of all time. The ending, the dance scene at the school, the shot of Rie arriving and leaving the station... Pure magic. I could spend the whole day watching those scenes.

There aren’t really many flaws. The first few minutes aren’t quite as great as what follows, and the scenes featuring the teacher alone are generally a bit less great the the ones where he appears with the students. None of those scenes are bad though. That’s a thing Taifu Club is totally missing. There aren’t really any bad or unneeded scenes. Some scenes run for really long, like the kid kicking the door 75 times or Mikami building the ”stairs” at the classroom, but I like them. Especially the latter one which has no music, just the sounds of the storm and then slowly all noise fades away and there’s nothing but complete silence left. I dislike the first few seconds of the shot of Mikami in the morning (cliché camerawork) but ultimately the shot is justified as it goes on quite some time and the rest works fine.

Incoherent and confusing review, I know. But it’s the best I can come up with. To put it simple, Taifu Club is the best Japanese movie ever made. Maybe even the best movie ever made anywhere.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 05 Feb 2007, 18:38

Taifu Club I havent heard of before

will keep my eyes peeled.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Feb 2007, 22:41

I'm taking your word for that Hung.

Road to Perdition - 4.5/5
Watched that again on DVD tonight. Never fails to impress.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 06 Feb 2007, 19:14

hey,

One And A Half 4/5

Wonderful road movie by Lawrence Lau (My Name Is Fame, Gimme Gimme, Spacked Out) set in China. Zhang Fengyi (Farewell My Concubine) more or less kidnaps what might or might be his son but aims to teach him about what his life was while at the same time facing his own fears. Gentle, warm and sometimes funny, the emotions are usually low-key and Lau makes it way too easy when shooting his performers in the observational way. By god it works. Carrie Ng and Paul Chun is also in it.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 07 Feb 2007, 12:34

Casino Royale (again) - 4.5/5

Still a cracking Bond film, I loved it!

Will get DVD

I loved the jokes in it, like the itchy balls gag, the one where Bond drives the girl in a circle back to "his place" and Le Chiffre's nod to previous villains!

Did Bond shoot the bombmaker at the start because he had no alternative? I think its because Eva Green betrays him that he will learn not to trust women.

BTW Eva was nice but I thought the woman he met before was nicer

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 07 Feb 2007, 14:54

Yup, the woman he met at that fancy club type place was definitely nicer!

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 07 Feb 2007, 19:34

hey,

Goodbye Hero 2.5/5

Decent drama about the lives of Hong Kong stuntmen, in particular one veteran played by Derek Yee. The glimpses into his shame having never moved up the ladder are felt and the behind the scenes aspects works (the extreme stunts on screen obviously need to actually performed by the actual filmmakers

). The film loses some when not concentrating on either of the above. Guilty aspect being the interaction between David Wu and Vivian Chow's character. Chin Siu-Ho's supporting act, as a stunt friend of Tony's now in a wheelchair shoud've been elevated. Directed by Jacob Cheung (Cageman, Battle Of Wits). Ching Siu-Tung has a supporting role as the director.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Feb 2007, 20:13

Lethal Ninja (2004 - Hong-Kong - By Herman Yau with Huang Sheng-Yi and Dayo Wong): 4 / 5

Nice little film.

I bought the DVD without having seen the film because I'd loved the trailer. I was hoping for a cross between Shinobi (2005) and Dragon From Russia, and... well... that's what it is !

The plot is kinda stupid. It's just there to move the story along when there's no fighting. Thankfully there are several long fights which are well-choregraphed and well-executed.
The cast is a bit of a mixed bag with experienced actors like Eddy Ko and Waise Lee (and a funny Ken Lo cameo !) on one side and inexperienced actors like Eva Huang Sheng-Yi on the other.
But it works.

The music is quite weird, borrowing notes from Crying Freeman and possibly many ninja flicks. It works in some scenes but sounds ridiculous in others.
Still, if you can forgive the dodgy score and the plot holes, what you'll find is a very fun movie.

Have bought the DVD. Liked it. Will keept it.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 07 Feb 2007, 20:19

hey,

it was strange because people picked up on the fact that a ninja movie was coming but Herman Yau's film was pretty much recently released. And for some folks, how silly it is, it's enough that it has ninjas.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 07 Feb 2007, 21:49

The Marine 2.5/5

stupid but entertaining enough actioner starring wwe wrestler john cena. Robert Patrick is the villain , there's a nice T2 in-joke at one point

Superman 2: Donner Cut 3.5/5

Good Movie but think i prefer the original version

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 07 Feb 2007, 22:24

saltysam wrote: Superman 2: Donner Cut 3.5/5

We await the Curry cut and the Burger cut with bated breath

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 08 Feb 2007, 00:18

Kurgan wrote:
saltysam wrote: Superman 2: Donner Cut 3.5/5
We await the Curry cut and the Burger cut with bated breath

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 08 Feb 2007, 00:29

At least use the animated version

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 08 Feb 2007, 17:00

Dreadnaught - 4/5
Classic old school movie, I just love these hand to hard combat movies. I really enjoyed this one, and anything that has Wong Fei Hung is a watcher in my opinion. Yuen Baio is really really good in this, I liked the way he was, a scared person who wouldn't hurt a fly. It was a surprise to see Leung Kar Yan in this, I really liked him in Postman fights back and Legend of a fighter. But the only thing is that they killed off foon!!!!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 08 Feb 2007, 22:04

Gangster High - 3/5
I have to admit that I fast forwarded some parts, but only because I was in a rush to leave the house and I had to return the disc to the rental store.

Very powerful ending, but overall it is only, "The guy pissed me off. Let's beat him".

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 08 Feb 2007, 22:34

She Shoots Straight 3/5

Crap acting, rather poo plot, but decent action and fighting. Lots of undercranking too.