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

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 03 Jul 2007, 20:34

tom2681 wrote:Still Life (2006 - China - Jia Zhang-Ke): 2 / 5

Booooring.

Yes, the cinematography is beautiful.
Yes, the acting is great.
But it's so slow...
Makes Wong Kar-Wai's movies look like epileptic MTV videos.

I've never been so bored in my entire life.

---
I understand why it got an award at the Venice film festival, though.
It's exactly the kind of film that pseudo-intellectuals like.

Even has a boring title to match lol.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 04 Jul 2007, 02:34

I can't even name most mainland dramas, they're all the same.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Jul 2007, 07:26

Chungking Express - 4.5/5

Possibly Wong Kar Wai's most accesible film, and a classic. I love this movie

The picture quality on the Korean remaster is outstanding, and the sound is excellent too, it sounds different from every other version I've seen, more natural and balanced (it's too loud on the R1 and R2).
The film will probably make you sick of California Dreamin' for a while, even though IMO it's a classic song.
The subtitles are about the same but a few words/phrases are different (I was used to Tony saying 'I'm easy. Whereever you like' when Faye says 'Where do you want to go') and the line 'We rub shoulders every day. We may not know each other... but we could be friends someday' Never mind though.
It must be a different print because the end credits are different to any other print I've seen - on the R1/R2 (pre Artificial Eye), UK TV broadcast, UK VHS the credits come up one at a time, are all in Chinese on a white background, and have to be translated by the subtitles. On the Korean DVD they are much more detailed and scroll up the screen like conventional credits. The copyright date says 1999 (?)
I'd probably take Valerie Chow over Faye, though I wouldn't kick Air Hostess Faye out

I used to compare my time with Lin to Chungking Express for some reason

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 04 Jul 2007, 08:46

Hard Boiled 4/5

I haven't watched it in a good while. Still remains a fantastic movie. There was a mini discussion in this thread on Woo movies; I think Shingster said this movie had some pacing issues but I thought it was perfectly paced from beginning to end. It just flows like water! Not a slow or boring moment in the whole film. Love it.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 Jul 2007, 14:34

Princess Mononoke (Japan - 1997 - Miyazaki Hayao): 4,5 /5

My first Miyazaki experience.
All I can say is... I'm impressed.

Great music from Joe Hisaishi, good animation, solid plot.

The action climax is a bit... over-the-top, maybe.
But that's my only criticism.

Will buy the DVD.
Too bad the french one is out-of-print. Would have loved to see this film with proper subtitles.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 04 Jul 2007, 15:04

tom2681 wrote:Will buy the DVD.
Too bad the french one is out-of-print. Would have loved to see this film with proper subtitles.

You can, get the japanese 4 disk version, I have it!!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Jul 2007, 15:08

A film that Tom likes that is not rubbish

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Jul 2007, 15:49

DIE HARD 4.0 ****/5

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 04 Jul 2007, 16:53

Better than you expected then huh?

Do you need to have seen the previous Die Hards? I've only seen the first ene.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 04 Jul 2007, 16:53

tom2681 wrote:Too bad the french one is out-of-print. Would have loved to see this film with proper subtitles.

Amazon Marketplace.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Jul 2007, 19:56

hey,

Girls Without Tomorrow 1992 - 2.5/5

Above average genre stuff (i.e. the hostess movie) and while not as distressing (and therefore not as good) as David Lam's 1988 version of the same kind of story, he has casted well (Carina Lau and Petrina Fung being standouts) and even does the unexpected by injecting a little hope into the otherwise doomed characters (as per genre requirement). Silly comedy, some depravity that Pauline Chan is the recipient of and melodrama, it could've been worse despite areas left unexplored by pure sloppiness.

The 1988 movie was also knows as Call Girl 88 and to top it all off, Andy Chin made Call Girl 92 the same year as Girls Without Tomorrow 1992. Welcome to HK. Although Chin's movie is probably his best and a vastly underrated hostess movie.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Jul 2007, 22:43

BiscLimpkit wrote:Better than you expected then huh?

Yes.

Do you need to have seen the previous Die Hards? I've only seen the first ene.

Not really. But you should be ashamed for not having seen 2 and 3.

Get to your DVD store immediately. 8)

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Jul 2007, 01:24

tom2681 wrote:Princess Mononoke (Japan - 1997 - Miyazaki Hayao): 4,5 /5

Great film, ruined by its overlong running time.

Bar Legend (aka: Three Fellas) - 3/5
Very exciting fight scenes by Jung Doo-Hong. I didn't really care for the characters however. Good decision there to cut it down to one of the few Korean films that run 90 minutes.

Heaven's Soldiers - 3/5
Nice story, good actors, funny moments and some nice action. Too bad though that the overall message of the film was, "Hey, North Korea! Even our glorious Korean folk hero Admiral Yi Sun-shin thinks it is silly you are seperating from us."

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Jul 2007, 08:49

Beverly Hills Cop II - 4/5

Great fun action comedy

Eddie Murphy is hilarious in it

Harold Lutz: Who the hell are you?
Axel Foley: My... name... is... Johnny Wishbone. I am a psychic. Yes, my name is Johnny Wishbone and I am a psychic from the Isle of St. Croix. I read in the St. Croix Gazette that the Beverley Hills Police Department was having trouble solving crimes. So I came to help you out, because I am a psychic extraordinaire. But they told me you don't need help, so I will go home. Yes, my name is Johnny Wishbone and I am a psychic from the Isle of St. Croix. You, I don't know you. You are... MMMMmmmmmmmmmmMMM AAAhhhhhh LUTZ! Chief LUTZ! And you are... MMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm... AAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Biddle: Biddle?
Axel Foley: BIDDLE! Yes, Biddle I was about to say that, but you beat me to it. I don't need any help because I am Johnny Wishbone psychic extraordinaire. Just think Johnny Wishbone and I will come. Lutz and Biddle, like Kibble n' Bits, but different.

Axel Foley: Inspector T, how you doin'?
Inspector Todd: Where the fuck you been, Foley? And what the fuck is this?
Axel Foley: It's a blue slip.
Inspector Todd: What the hell do you need a thousand dollars for?
Axel Foley: Just a little flash money.
Inspector Todd: Flash money. Now let's see here - $2,000 for a suit, $200 for a tie, a requisition order for a Ferrari. I'm tired of seein' these blue slips, when the hell am I gonna see some arrest slips?
Axel Foley: Look, inspector if there was a problem, I think...
Inspector Todd: Don't think, Axel, makes my dick itch. Fact of the matter is, I'm pouring money down a bottomless hole. And my ass is on the line. I ok'd all this shit!

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 05 Jul 2007, 10:24

Grim, do yourself a favour and destroy the BHC3 disc before you watch it.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 05 Jul 2007, 15:27

Rewatched El Maquinista aka The Machinist - 5/5
Cracking film, loved the whole way, the whole it was played out, the darkness, the acting, its just great

Barbarian King · Post by **Barbarian King** » 05 Jul 2007, 15:31

Transformers - 0/5

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 Jul 2007, 15:38

That's what I was afraid of.
But hey, it's Michael Bay. What were you expecting ?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Jul 2007, 15:47

slasher13 wrote:Rewatched El Maquinista aka The Machinist - 5/5
Cracking film, loved the whole way, the whole it was played out, the darkness, the acting, its just great

Slasher do you mean the Christian Bale movie? I loved that, I have the DVD but not watched it yet

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 Jul 2007, 16:06

slasher13 wrote:El Maquinista aka The Machinist - 5/5

Not a very good film IMO. Very predictable and makes you feel uneasy for the wrong reasons.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 05 Jul 2007, 16:07

grim_tales wrote:Slasher do you mean the Christian Bale movie? I loved that, I have the DVD but not watched it yet

Yup the very same movie, it is quality, i didn't like it the first time, so rewatched and loved it the 2nd time. Same thing happened with Scarface, didn't like it the 1st time, but watching it the 2nd, its brilliant!

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 05 Jul 2007, 16:08

HungFist wrote:Not a very good film IMO. Very predictable and makes you feel uneasy for the wrong reasons.

Really HungFist, what part made you feel uneasy? Christian Bale himself, the way he looked?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 Jul 2007, 16:20

slasher13 wrote:
HungFist wrote:Not a very good film IMO. Very predictable and makes you feel uneasy for the wrong reasons.
Really HungFist, what part made you feel uneasy? Christian Bale himself, the way he looked?

hah, no. What made me feel uneasy was how the movie used the oldest paranoia tricks and expected me to find it exciting. The main character would always do the exact thing I was thinking he should not do, and then I'd end up feeling embarrased for him.

Barbarian King · Post by **Barbarian King** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:41

tom2681 wrote:That's what I was afraid of.
But hey, it's Michael Bay. What were you expecting ?

I literally had no expectations at all. I wasn't expecting anything even coming close to being in the same vicinity as a quality motion picture.

And yet, I still felt disappointed and pissed for wasting the money and time on it.

Watching a blank screen for 144 minutes would have been more entertaining.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Jul 2007, 22:10

It's 2.5 hours

, jeez what is it with directors today not having a clue what an editing suite is.

The end of Bad Boys 2 was ruined by Bay not knowing when to end, the entire latter sub-plot should've been cut. That was 2.5 hours long and was ridiculously long.