What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[chazgower01]

Fallen Angels (1995, Hong Kong) youtube 4.5/5
It takes me a bit longer to warm up to a few of the characters in this, but I do, and the humanity and insight is there to go with the style, the casting, and all the elements that make a Wong Kar-Wai film.
Leon Lei's hitman, his partner Michelle Reis (who looks awesome in this), weirdo mute Kaneshiro Takeshi, his delusional female friend Charlie Yeung, and the desperate and lonely Karen Mok, who ends up being maybe my favorite character in the film.
Not everyone ends up being who you necessarily start off thinking they are, and the scene near the end with Takeshi watching the video footage of his father still makes me tear up.
Not as great as Chungking Express, but darn close.

[Markgway]

And a member of the Asian Hawk's Losers band!

Yeah, they cut that gag out of the export version.

Anything he had a good part in that you'd recommend? He was around a long time!

Shanghai Blues, To Err Is Humane, My Heart Is that Eternal Rose, The Top Bet, Saviour of the Soul, The Moon Warriors, Mary from Beijing, The Chinese Feast

[grim_tales]

Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong) youtube 5/5
Every few years I watch this, usually when something triggers my memory of it. Like Valerie Chow in 'Freaky Story'. She plays the stewardess in this, the cop's girlfriend who leaves him, that has the bra and long airline skirt on in the flashback apartment scene.

It's funny to remember certain things about this movie - how much I hated that motion blur technique early in the movie especially when Jackie and Sammo started copying it... I can't even remember which movies I saw it in (Mr. Nice Guy?), but I hated it! Luckily here, it's very briefly used.

And two years ago, this line wouldn't have made me laugh out loud...
"I ate all 30 cans that night. Good thing for me May wasn't into Durian."

The casting, the dialogue, the visuals, the characters... it all is superb.
This movie IS the art of film making. And Faye Wong. Ah yeah... I think I need to watch some more Wong Kar-Wai.

I studied this movie in college, and fell in love with Faye Wong. As you say, everything just works - the dialogue, characters and memorable music.
Faye is gorgeous in her airhostess outfit

[HungFist]

Female Convict Scorpion (蠍子 / さそり) (Hong Kong / Japan, 2008) [DVD] - 1/5
Incomprehensible Hong Kong adaptation of the manga throws in wire fu to accompany amateurish artistry and dull drama. The original series was a political avant-garde exploitation spectacular; this exploitation free bore has absolutely none of that, and feels extremely un-Sasori for its overt HK style. I'm actually more critical towards this film than the recent Japanese soft porn versions. Those were just economics at work. But when they produce an adaptation of Japanese material in Hong Kong and go through the trouble of importing a Japanese leading lady, yet they don't seem to have a clue what they are doing, you gotta wonder what was the point? And then they have Nami fight a flying swordsman! As additional irritation, there is no satisfying language option for the film. In Cantonese the main character (Miki Mizuno) ends up dubbed, in Japanese nearly everyone else (including Simon Yam, giving the only worthy performance in the film). Both tracks also punish the listener with the same ear shattering cover of Meiko Kaji's theme song.

The Beast Must Die (野獣死すべし) (Japan, 1959) [DVD] - 3/5
Sophisticated literature student (Tatsuya Nakadai) moonlights as a robber and murdered, not so much for the money but for the sheer excitement of killing human beings and getting away with it. An early Haruhiko Oyabu (Youth of the Beast, Resurrection of the Golden Wolf) adaptation by Toho action/thriller director Eizo Sugawa who directed several interesting films. This movie is captivating when it focuses on its protagonist; the segments following the detectives after him are less interesting. The ending is quite bold for a 1959 film.

[Markgway]

Brigitte Lin >> Valerie Chow >> Faye Wang

[chazgower01]

Brigitte Lin >> Valerie Chow >> Faye Wang

Yup.

[chazgower01]

Bleeding Steel (2017, People's Republic of China) airplane movie 1.5/5
I sat through all of it!
I have a hard time sitting through Jackie's movies now, as they're not very good, and this one wasn't much better, but I was on a 4 hour flight to South Korea and figured what the hell.
First off, it's the most cliched movie EVER. Every single bit of it is a movie cliche you've seen a 1000 times before. Which hey, this is a Chinese movie, we've seen plenty of copycat material, especially in Jackie's work. But his stunt's are few and aren't exciting, his fights aren't really all that exciting (his best one is when he's wearing a mask...Hmmmm..), and the comedy is left for others to do, as Jackie is very, very serious and determined throughout.
Taiwanese singer, comedian, and actor Show Lo and even younger Taiwanese singer and actress Ouyang Nana, provide a glimmer of hope, giving the movie a youthful edge, but.... it's more silly, than hip. Attractive unnknown actress Erica Xia-Hou provides some decent action in the fights, but after the opening, we don't see her for half the movie.
It's about a scientist who has created some type of regenerating blood or something, and everyone wants it, and the villains look like gothic vampires with an army of rejects from G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra. Jackie has to save the scientist in the first fifteen minutes of the movie INSTEAD of visiting his dying daughter in the hospital who is going into surgery! Shit blows up real good, and we eventually learn that his daughter became a recepient of the blood regenterating serum (but lost all her memories of her dad), and now 13 years later is being tracked down by the bad guys again.
Thinks it's a Tom Cruise sci-fi thriller judging by the cover. Yeah, right. There are no thrills in this, it's predictable from the moment it starts. Cruise spent a lot of money to buy up literary properties to give himself some material to work with. Here, Jackie took a no name director who wrote his own script, and saved a bunch of money, and got what he paid for.

[chazgower01]

Shanghai Blues (1984, Hong Kong) internet ?
I really wish I could find a subbed copy of this, as the Chinese version made me laugh and smile all throughout. Sally Yeh in particular is hilarious with her facial expressions and physical comedy, but Kenny Bee and Sylvia Chang are great as well.
I really need to explore more of Tsui Hark's work.

[grim_tales]

Brigitte Lin >> Valerie Chow >> Faye Wang

Valerie Chow was very sexy in it too

[chazgower01]

Severely Raped (1998, Hong Kong) Haiuken.com Sub 2.5/5
The title has nothing to do with the movie, unless you want to apply it to the money taken from the victims, one of which is the not quite 40 year old virgin, Elvis Tsui (!!!), who gets lured into a trap of whores who might make a good wife one day.
Not really all that bad of a Cat III movie, for what that's worth, with plenty of gratuitous full frontal nudity, enough of a story to keep interest, and even a few Japanese actresses thrown in to spice things up (Wada Yuko and Nam(i) Sugawara), though it gets a little preachy (Basically a lesson on how working girls play their victims).
Kinda funny watching Elvis Tsui play against type, and the hooker visiting her boyfriend in prison scene is a hoot. Like I said, not bad for a Cat III movie.
NSFW:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Oe0aAy7CPpM/ ... 4%2BAM.png

[HungFist]

Female Prisoner No. 701: Sasori (女囚701号 さそり外伝) (Japan, 2011) [DVD] - 1/5
Extremely dull pinku reboot with depressingly bad production values. They couldn't afford even remotely convincing prison sets, hence the movie looks like it was filmed in an old school building, which is probably correct. AV actress Asuka Kirara (no relation to similar sounding kaiju monsters) takes over the lead role and makes some of the earlier reboot stars look like a bunch of Meryl Streeps in comparison. Nami is working for an IT company this time, betrayed by a lover as usual. There is really nothing of interest here, or at least I don't think there is: half of the film is so dark you can't see what's going on. A sequel ensued in 2012, my will to see it did not.

The Beast Must Die: Mechanic of Revenge (野獣死すべし 復讐のメカニック) (Japan, 1974) [DVD] - 3/5
A thematic follow-up with sex and violence upped to the 70s standards. Once again the protagonist (Hiroshi Fujioka) is a devil is disguise, a literature teacher also working as an assassin but betraying his employers. The film's nihilist and action packed final reel is especially memorable, and would make modern mainstream audiences shake their heads in disbelief. It is too bad the film is not always as captivating, with the antihero surrounded by boring corporate bosses and desperate women (one of them played by Mako Midori) whose worries aren't too interesting. Sugawa was a director whose coldness and relative minimalism was well suited for tensely written thrillers (e.g. Beast Hunt, 1973); this movie serves that need intermittently.

[Markgway]

Shanghai Blues (1984, Hong Kong) internet ?
I really wish I could find a subbed copy of this, as the Chinese version made me laugh and smile all throughout. Sally Yeh in particular is hilarious with her facial expressions and physical comedy, but Kenny Bee and Sylvia Chang are great as well.
I really need to explore more of Tsui Hark's work.

It exists, because when I saw it many years ago it had subs.

[HungFist]

I should have those subs... probably got them from Ken... Kenneth? The Swede anyway.

I seem to have liked the film (3.5/5) even though I forgot having seen it. For years I had the HK Video dvd on my watch pile until about a year ago I realized I had already watched, rated and probably even reviewed it years ago. Had zero recollection of it. D'oh.

I do recall liking Peking Opera Blues a fair bit better, though. That one's a fantastic film.

[HungFist]

Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (野良猫ロック セックス・ハンター) (Japan, 1970) [35mm] - 4/5
There's an angry (and timely) political action film hidden under a misleading commercial title (something that Nikkatsu would make a habit of in the Roman Porno era). A mixed blood watadori (very young Rikiya Yasuoka) wanders into a town searching for his sister, but clashes with racist youth gang (led by Tatsuya Fuji) who are set to clean the city of half-blood bastards to protect the women... when they are not abusing them themselves! Meiko Kaji is the leader of a more decent girl gang, but interestingly in a relationship with Fuji. No sex hunters to be found anywhere in the film. Director Hasebe made a trademark of helming politically coloured films and the denying any political message in interviews. Perhaps it was indeed arthouse/exploitation gonzo writer Atsushi Yamatoya (who also wrote the very loosely based re-working Sex Hunter: Wet Target, 1972) who put that stuff in the film (and Chiho Katsuura in the Roman Porno films). Hasebe handles the pace and live music (including the mixed blood girl group Golden Half) well, except the repetitive violence and abuse could've been cut down. Energetic/punkish Kaji is good, but I prefer her silent Sasori / Lady Snowblood persona; the singer gone actor and future yakuza villain heavyweight Yasuoka is more interesting here. Undeniably influential for the pinky violence genre, I still have difficulties labelling this series as pinky violence as these are pure Nikkatsu with their youthful trendiness. Pinky Violence was more of a Toei thing, especially if going by J Taro Sugisaku's original definition (though there's an odd non-Toei film here and there, like Toho's first Rica pic, that is hard to label as anything else).

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (女囚７０１号　さそり) (Japan, 1972) [DVD] - 4/5
Uneven but thoroughly entertaining mix of honest exploitation, arthouse visuals and angry politics. First and foremost it was a collaborative effort by politically active debut director Shunya Ito, who channelled the political turmoil of the era (from constant ridicule of the Japanese establishment to a hostage segment echoing Asama Sanso), production designer Tadayuki Kawana, who based the prison design and character dynamics on Auschwitz, and Meiko Kaji, who in a career defining role created a near mute avenger capable of retaining her dignity under any male oppression (a theme that runs strong in the first three films). Add surreal visuals with skies turning apocalyptic red during massacre and a prisoner morphing into a demon out of anger (as striking as those images are, they are always justified as supporting or exaggerated means of storytelling, rather than as disconnected symbolic images, something that many copycats and phony art films have gotten wrong) and we've got a film that beats almost anything in the genre except its own sequels. Compared to the follow ups there is a certain lack of focus that leads to a salad bowl of ingredients, and it is slightly burdened by having to tell the background story (like Ogami Itto in Lone Wolf and Cub, the protagonist is so interesting that the film works better when closely exploring the present than when over-viewing dramatic background story).

[Markgway]

Yes, Peking Opera Blues is the better of the two; a masterpiece, IMHO.

But Shanghai Blues is very good, too.

[chazgower01]

Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (野良猫ロック セックス・ハンター) (Japan, 1970) [35mm] - 4/5
There's an angry (and timely) political action film hidden under a misleading commercial title (something that Nikkatsu would make a habit of in the Roman Porno era). A mixed blood watadori (very young Rikiya Yasuoka) wanders into a town searching for his sister, but clashes with racist youth gang (led by Tatsuya Fuji) who are set to clean the city of half-blood bastards to protect the women... when they are not abusing them themselves! Meiko Kaji is the leader of a more decent girl gang, but interestingly in a relationship with Fuji. No sex hunters to be found anywhere in the film. Director Hasebe made a trademark of helming politically coloured films and the denying any political message in interviews. Perhaps it was indeed arthouse/exploitation gonzo writer Atsushi Yamatoya (who also wrote the very loosely based re-working Sex Hunter: Wet Target, 1972) who put that stuff in the film (and Chiho Katsuura in the Roman Porno films). Hasebe handles the pace and live music (including the mixed blood girl group Golden Half) well, except the repetitive violence and abuse could've been cut down. Energetic/punkish Kaji is good, but I prefer her silent Sasori / Lady Snowblood persona; the singer gone actor and future yakuza villain heavyweight Yasuoka is more interesting here. Undeniably influential for the pinky violence genre, I still have difficulties labeling this series as pinky violence as these are pure Nikkatsu with their youthful trendiness. Pinky Violence was more of a Toei thing, especially if going by J Taro Sugisaku's original definition (though there's an odd non-Toei film here and there, like Toho's first Rica pic, that is hard to label as anything else).

Yeah... The Ike, Sugimoto stuff just feels more 'street', probably because those girls were themselves actually a bit more 'street'?
That and the majority of pinky violence movies I've seen, revolved around the characters just trying to survive the shitty life they've grown up in or been thrust into - this series seems to go out of its way to show us, these 'youngsters' are rebellious and just don't care what anyone thinks. It seems more about 'the attitude.' Or trying hard to show it.
Still love this series though, with the music and the clothes, and of course, Kaji. But even little things like Tatsuya Fuji looking like a completely different person in each of these movies, despite being filmed nearly back to back...

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (女囚７０１号　さそり) (Japan, 1972) [DVD] - 4/5
Uneven but thoroughly entertaining mix of honest exploitation, arthouse visuals and angry politics. First and foremost it was a collaborative effort by politically active debut director Shunya Ito, who channelled the political turmoil of the era (from constant ridicule of the Japanese establishment to a hostage segment echoing Asama Sanso), production designer Tadayuki Kawana, who based the prison design and character dynamics on Auschwitz, and Meiko Kaji, who in a career defining role created a near mute avenger capable of retaining her dignity under any male oppression (a theme that runs strong in the first three films). Add surreal visuals with skies turning apocalyptic red during massacre and a prisoner morphing into a demon out of anger (as striking as those images are, they are always justified as supporting or exaggerated means of storytelling, rather than as disconnected symbolic images, something that many copycats and phony art films have gotten wrong) and we've got a film that beats almost anything in the genre except its own sequels. Compared to the follow ups there is a certain lack of focus that leads to a salad bowl of ingredients, and it is slightly burdened by having to tell the background story (like Ogami Itto in Lone Wolf and Cub, the protagonist is so interesting that the film works better when closely exploring the present than when over-viewing dramatic background story).

Now THIS is Meiko Kaji!

[chazgower01]

Eternal Evil of Asia (1995, Hong Kong) Haiuken.com 3/5
A Chinese man, possessed by an Illusion Spell ends up killing his family before jumping off a roof and killing himself.
Turns out he was one of four Chinese friends (including Elvis Tsui) who went to Thailand for some booty, got into trouble and end up helping a wizard defeat some enemies of his (one of which is Julie Lee in a small barely topless role).
The Wizard is grateful and makes them his friends. And then introduces them to his sister, the sexy Chin Gwan (Sex and the Emperor, Spike Drink Gang). She falls for one of them, the soon to be married one who behaved himself in the Thai go-go club. She convinces her brother to put a hex spell on him, cause SHE needs some booty, but the OTHER three guys get the spell by mistake.
She thinks she's in a passionate love making with HIM, when in reality she's banging all THREE of the OTHER guys. She wakes up in a frenzy and in a struggle falls on a sharp object, instantly dying.
Now the Wizard is furious and chases the four back to Hong Kong (picking up where the first one was killed), where the soon to be married one explains all of this to his fiance (the really hot Ellen Chan), and they enlist the aid of her sister, who's also a wizard (Lily Chung).
Meanwhile, the second friend, overcome by a 'Hunger Spell', bites his dates fingers off and bites a chunk out of another patron, before eating all the flesh from his own left arm, and dying. Two down, two to go!
But then the Wizard gets the hots for Ellen Chan...
It's actually a pretty entertaining Cat III movie, with a fair amount of gore, a fair amount of nudity, decent special effects (Elvis Tsui gets turned into a literal 'dickhead' and also a pinhead) and a story that's somewhat interesting.
And Ellen Chan's invisible ghost blow job...

[chazgower01]

1941 Hong Kong on Fire (1994, Hong Kong) internet 3/5
Cash Chin's (Eternal Evil of Asia, Sex & Zen II, 33D Intruder!) first big movie, there are times this is a really good historical drama, putting us right in the heart of Japan's 1941 occupation of Hong Kong. Chingmy Yau, who I'm not a huge fan of, is decent here, as are many of the usuals: Elvis Tsui, Julie Lee... but the one who surprised me was Veronica Yip, whose performance is outstanding, as one of Chingmy's sisters, whose family we follow through the whole horrid ordeal. The range of emotions she has to show, and manages to pull off is just really well done.
Of course, Chingmy, being this IS a Wong Jing Workshop, stays just out of reach of everyone's grasp, while everyone else experiences hell - they even have her on the cover of the box art as if it's HER that's going through it. But... even that sort of works itself out.
My only REAL issue with this movie, and how it only got a Cat II rating is beyond me, is that they make the rape scenes, and there are quite a few, just a little too exploitative. Which may sound strange, right? But let's face it, in a serious historical drama, there's a thin line between "Hey, we want to show you THIS because it was BAD" and "Hey we want to show you THIS because... oh look at her tits!"
It's not even about the nudity, just the way they show the nudity. It lessens an otherwise really decent movie.

[chazgower01]

Wild At Heart (1993, Hong Kong) internet 1.5/5
Director Cash Chin's (1941 Hong Kong on Fire, The Eternal Evil of Asia, Sex & Zen II, 33D Intruder) first 'movie', a Cat III comedy about a married Ad executive (Dick Lau, Naked Killer) surrounded by tons of sexy women that he can't keep his hands off.
Starring no one I've ever heard of, with no additional credits on hkmdb.com, and no traces on google, they all of course go full frontal naked and have lots of sex, including the main character's bigger sized wife!
Despite the weak story, Cash Chin actually tries to make something of it, but the comedy isn't funny and most of it falls flat (it has a few moments). The sex is filmed in some creative ways though, in fact, some of it quite creative, and the ending has all of his lover's converging on him at once...
***NSFW***
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z29UOHmligY/ ... 5%2BAM.png
A lot of this is probably a part of what led to him getting some of his future work, including Sex & Zen II.

[HungFist]

Three Lakes Prison: Widespread Brutality (三池監獄 兇悪犯) (Japan, 1973) [TV] - 3/5
Try to beat this opening: dirty prisoners working in a coal mine dig a tunnel to the neighbouring mine... a tunnel full of sweaty topless girls in physical labour. Someone's tipped off the guards though, and as they return every man is shot (3-15 times). A 1973 Toei film by Shigehiro Ozawa, this initially seems like a male version of WiP movies, complete with bare-assed men marching the corridors, naked guys in tiny cages, a silent protagonist, and at least one third of the inmate population being gay. How odd. Unfortunately the film then tones it down considerably to become a socially aware, violent drama about Meiji Era Japan which was exploiting prisoners to finance their war with Russia. The jitsuroku influence is obvious. The film's weak link is Koji Tsuruta, the venerable samurai and ninkyo star who is obviously disgusted to be in this movie, and would quit Toei very soon after. Co-stars Joe Shishido, Goro Ibuki and Minoru Oki give more passionate performances. Uneven but interesting film, and peculiar for its coal mine setting. Note: misspelled by IMDb and Chris D.'s as "San ike kangoku", the correct reading is "Miike kangoku: Kyoakuhan".

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (女囚さそり　第４１雑居房) (Japan, 1972) [35mm] - 5/5
The sequel turns a straight forward 7 female convicts on the run scenario into a surreal anti-patriarchal odyssey, a theme touched in the previous movie and perfected here. After breaking free from the chains set by men (also note that every single one of them were chained in the first place because of treacherous men) the women try to escape but the society keeps setting its patriarchal shadow over them at every turn. The most amazing segment comes when madness escalates in hijacked bus full of old men bragging with the Chinese women they raped in war, with Ito cross cutting to the women laying their vengeance and surreal sequences of the masculine society judging the women. Kaji does amazing job acting with her eyes (she has only two lines, a total of five 5 words) and contributes a couple of extremely well utilized (thanks to the terrific editing) songs to the soundtrack. There are also some memorable bits of Argentoan violence, with the guards (Hideo Murota, Shinzo Hotta + warden Fumio Watanabe in his best role) often in the receiving end. An amazing film, one of the finest pictures of the 1970s.

[chazgower01]

Naked Poison (2000, Hong Kong) internet 2/5
Here's a good example of a Cat III movie with some good ideas, some interesting characters, and no fear of being 'out there', but it just can't seem to put it all together.
Samuel Leung (33D Intruder) is a skinny nerd who has nothing going on with the ladies, and his sexual frustration is...hard. That is until he inherits his grandfather's 'medicine' store and creates a potion that makes women insatiable for him. Desire him. Become his sexual slave. Though it's more like a drug that ends up with side effects....
Of course, this turns him into an asshole, and really the movie gets ugly. I think it's MEANT to, in order to show you how BAD this whole thing is. Either way, I couldn't stop watching it... even though I can't necessarily say it was great. But this is most of what a Cat III horror movie should be.
And Sophie Ngan is pretty hot...

[chazgower01]

The Beast of Tutor (2003, Hong Kong) Haiuken.com 1/5
Sophie Ngan stars as a cop, interrogating a tutor who was raping his students. She spends the whole movie clothed as he tells (and we see) the sleazy details of his crimes.
Lots of full nudity and simulated sex, light bondage, but it's neither sexy or all that interesting.

[chazgower01]

Naked Poison 2 (2002, Hong Kong) internet 2/5
Because you demanded it!
With nothing in common with the first one, other than a return of Sophie Ngan (and Co Co Chow), this story doesn't even follow any of the same ideas as the first, instead concentrating on some kind of Memento rip off, where Sophie can only remember 15 minutes at a time and writes on her body in black ink. It's really not worth going into.
The honest to gosh, only reason to see this movie is Sophie Ngan's only (that I know of) full frontal scene. A 3 minute shower towards the end of the movie, this is an actress who's done plenty of topless, but usually wears a 'shash' during love scenes (including in this movie), but here she gives her fans a long look at the goods, including some looking up.
If only Amy Yip would've done one of these scenes, she could've extended her career another 10 years.
NSFW:
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QkYAFkTsfnc/ ... 2BNgan.png

[chazgower01]

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (女囚さそり　第４１雑居房) (Japan, 1972) [35mm] - 5/5

[chazgower01]

As Tears Go By (1988, Hong Kong) DVD 3/5
I don't dislike this as much as some people, and every time I watch it, I think, "I actually kind of like this."
Yes, Jacky Cheung's 'Fly' is annoying, yes Andy Lau should set him straight, yes Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away' is cheesy, blah, blah, blah.
But I WANT to see Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung fall in love. I LIKE the fights despite a million other movies like this. And the ending... well...
It's a moment in time of these characters lives, and sometimes things just are what they are and play out how they play out and hindsight is 20/20.