What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[Guest kenichiku]

Shaolin Intruder (IVL) ****.5/5 w/Derek Yee & the great Jason Pai; Exhilarating!

Song of Tomorrow (IVL) *** w/Ivy & Chao Chuang; Really dated.

Negishi Kishitaro, Kizuna (R3) ***.5 w/Yakusho Koji & Watanabe Ken; Emotionally Effective.

Redford, Jeremiah Johnson (R1) ***.5 A Treat to the Eyes.

[Guest ShaofuSage]

Zero Woman, Red Handcuffs - WOW!........ummm.........What can I say, when it comes to exploitation, this takes the cake. Numerous rape scenes, graphic, graphic violence, lots of innocent lives being wasted, extermely evil and sick villians who perform countless countless evil and sick acts, tons of nudity, and the most emotionless female lead I have ever seen on screen going through it all.

Was this enjoyable........I can't say, but damn, it had some serious style. The lead chick definitely gets infinite cool points, plus she's very, very attractive (and often naked). Would've loved to know why she was so cold and emotionless, but sadly this was never fully explored.

Overall, recommended for the intrigued. You will also be treated to the most ridiculous pair of handcuffs ever and I swear to you, ONE OF THE FREAKIN COOLEST JAPANESE MOVIE SONGS EVER!!! (I had to put it on my ringtones)

[Barsader]

Duel for gold-4/5-its Chu yuan alright.Remove the fog and exotic settings.Insert indoor/outdoor early 70's swordplay,and keep the winding ,twisting story.Well directed.Fights were

bloody.

Angry guest-3/5-another Ti lung/David chiang collaboration.

This film,set in a modern setting,was an entertaining kf/basher. The ending was a bit abrupt, i thought more story could have developed.Chang cheh himself cameos as The bosslord.

[Guest jmungus]

TYG

improvement on cam angles and movement compared to ong bak, big improvement on fighting sequences compared to ong bak, little improvement on the editing and screenplay; at some times tho, it even transcends into pure lousiness in those particular areas.

characters are incredibly bland, including tony`s, who himself puts on a good show still.

like almost anybody else in the MA fan universe, i would strongly advice for him to look for a qualified team of directors/producers (from hk) and do the right things for everybodys sake.

still its an entertaining flick with a couple of incredible and big fun action/fight sequences, an updated cinematography & less post production crap.

7.6/10

BROTHERS GRIMM

made no sense to me. pretty disappointing fare.

well crafted and at least mildly entertaining, it had NOTHING that i would actually call attractive, pleasing, smart or charming. quo vadis terry gilliam ?

5.8/10

TWO GREAT CAVALIERS

great display of a top notch taiwanese old school production.

beardy was certainly underused, but this flick is about angela mao and john liu and they deliver.

i`d have to say tho, liu`s acting crosses the border to annoying in 2GC (that being said, im generally appreciating JL a lot, tho ive never exactly been a true fan of his screen presence, neither his fighting; the leg work is always impressive but other kicking experts have more range (diversity) & more intensity in their moves).

ah yes, and chen sing... hes in it too and he was great.

7.8/10

CRY WOLF

"teenie slasher" like my girlfriend loves em to death.

to my surprise it had a nice touch to it and i felt it was even hinting at being smart enough not to take itself all too seriously.

so if youre in need for another one of these kinda flicks (like faculty, swimfan, scream, cursed, urban legends etc), i`d say go for it, theres quite some other stuff out there but cry wolf to ruin your movie night with he he.

6.5/10

THE MYTH

slower n less looney but mature fighting courtesy of mr jackie chan, epic proportations that sometimes worked for me, sometimes didnt (looked cheesy, fake and out of place); overall a good time 2 hours, but in terms of screenwriting, i`d recommend for the tong team to get their asses back to (film-) school and freshen up on the basics of crafting a captivating movie.

i really liked the concept of this movie (in theory, the actual output doesnt work that well) and found myself appreciating some nice staging and editing of a number of fights.

7.2/10

[Guest kngfu]

INVINCIBLE MONKEY FIST-The disc from VideoAsia was from a print that was so scratched and old. It was missing every other frame as Chen Kuan Tai couldn't even finish a sentence. The movie itself was pretty simple, but watching one of my heroes teamed up with a young Billy Chong was worth the disc problems. Chong seemed slower and more awkward than in his later films, I guess experience makes the difference. CKT shined when performing his Monkey Fist style, so much that when he fought without it he looke like an amateur. A movie that only a fan could love, but that means all of us , right.

THE MYTH- How cool was it too see Jackie actually fighting again. The flashback scenes make the entire movie.

[Guest GwaiLoMoFo]

Mostly non- genre films lately....

Narnia (w/the family)- 4/5 It was OK, kids liked it.

Exorcism Of Emily Rose- 4/5 A horror film w/good story

Four Brothers-3.5/5 Decent ass kicking, story fell apart towards the end.

Serenity-5/5 I liked it alot, good action & story

Gerd Ma Lui-3.5/5 Good end sequence

Christmas With the Kranks-2/5 Crapola

Wolf Creek-4/5 pretty well made, great tension.

Sky High (family)- 4/5 Fun flick

[Guest Ivy Ling Po]

Nora Miao in The Blade Spares None. She is outstanding in this movie. If she is this good, she should have filmed more in this genre and perhaps not at all as windowdressing in Bruce Lee's films. I am very impressed. I can see it is really her rolling on the ground.

[Guest GwaiLoMoFo]

Just watched the American remake of "Dark Water". Quite possibly the worst remake of a Japanese horror flick to date. No atmosphere, not a single scary/tense moment in the film. Not a total waste of 2 hrs because I got to stare at Jennifer Connelly (:eek ) who was basically in every scene. Nakata's original was sooo much better in every aspect (except Jennifer ). I give it a 2.5/5 (5/5 for JC), and the original by the master Nakata a 4/5. Avoid this remake. Oh, and when I went to see Wolf Creek last weekend I caught a trailer for ANOTHER remake of a Japanese horror film. This time its K. Kurasowa's Pulse (aka Kairo).

[Barsader]

SUPERPOWER.....not quite super enough(maybe more billy?)

got to see alot of hau sau seng, which in itself is good.

The girl billy was supposed to marry, got like totally erased from the plot of the film after a certain point.I thought it would be the 'ol....steal or kill the girl scenario.

a good movie overall, just expected a bit more.

that backwards flip kick move was superb!!

3.5/5

[Guest shukocarl]

Over the last fortnight....

Doctor Who - The Christmas Invasion (Prefer Chris Eccleston!)

Once Upon a Time in the West (Superb)

King Kong (The new one...my kids loved it...overblown)

Keoma (Underrated)

Fists of the Double K (great underrated basher)

The Big Showdown (Lee Van Cleef....poor)

Batman Begins (terrific)

War of the Worlds (Cruise...good effort but too depressing)

Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964 Billy Hartnell ! Looks Prehistoric!)

Buddhist Shaoilin Avengers (or Village on Fire...two thumbs up)

pardon me...I've got square eyes!8o

[Guest Ivy Ling Po]

Everlasting Regret. Sammi Cheng lacks the acting chops to look convincing in this beautifully crafted movie. Great production values but a hollow core due to Sammi sleepwalking her way thru it. She's surrounded by great actors like Hu Jun and Tony Leung. Even Daniel Wu fares better than her. Sammi looks just right for her part but stares emptily into space for most of her scenes. Her eyes are blank registering zero emotion.

[Guest Ivy Ling Po]

Flightplan. Jodie Foster once again undergoes a lot of stress ala Panic Room, on an aircraft this time. I thought Jodie was excellent but the film critic friend who sat through the dvd with me thought Jodie acts the same way in all her films, with the same responses and the same acting crutches. Ooch.....is she a crippled actress? Does she need a crutch? He also said the plot was not believable as someone should have at least seen Jodie's daughter when they boarded the aircraft. Whatever the shortcomings, I was thrilled to bits by the suspense.

[Guest kenichiku]

Chang Cheh, Ten Tigers from Kwantung (R3) ***.5 – w/Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, Lu Feng, Kwok Choi, Lu Feng, Wang Li, Lung Tien Hsiang. Well, the Shaolin Cycle’s ended, Venoms are all over the place and for the life of me, I can’t count the 10 tigers to save my own life or point out each of their significance to the story. Chang Cheh felt he had a lemon in his original version and jettison his all-star footage, huh? Well, he’s still made a great pitcher of lemonade…the Kung Fu’s sweet.

Jackson, King Kong (theatrical) **** w/Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrian Brody & the terrific Circuit Serkis. A Runyan Big Apple, blonde ambition, that ghost island sea-wall, Safari brotherhood, unholy primitives, bronto stampede, T-Rex wrestling, bug spray, the Empire State, okay so my comments all sound like the names of chapter stops. It’s all good.

Brooks, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood (theatrical) ****.5 An important American masterpiece 1967 (no not the TV one) w/Scott Wilson, John Forsythe & Robert Blake’s chilling art imitates life performance now carries a whole different meaning. Really appreciated the somber and haunting Black & white choreography courtesy of the great Conrad Hall; it really helps the gothic Midwestern mood, on the giant screen no less. The issue of capital punishment is as timely as it is today. So who is the hangman? The reporter says it’s ‘We the People’…Philip Seymour Hoffman’s next!

Flynn, Out for Justice (R1) ***.5 the best wise-guy 90s martial arts flick out there. Bill Forsythe w/the crack-pipe, the beautiful Gina Gershon, the great Jerry Orbach & Danny ‘Sticks’ Inosanto. Hilarious, outrageous, corny dialogue yeah, a still young Steven Seagal busting up the jernt. Scumbag mooks hitting the pavement are balanced out by honest working class stiffs who earn their paychecks. Love that theme of the sense of ole-fashioned neighborhood that prolly don’t exist no more. No sleep to Brooklyn!

[Guest ShaofuSage]

Female Prisoner Scorpion, 1 & 2 - here's some more classic 70s Japanese exploitation done to perfection. Although most reviews I read on these films usually state that the sequel is superior, I found the first film more to my liking because I felt it was more story-driven. The second film is very surreal, artsy type of stuff, extremely beautiful at times, and very, very disturbing at other times.

I thought the first film presents us with the strongest heroine I've ever seen on screen - she's incredibly empowered in an absolutely powerless situation as a female prisoner who is constantly tortured and attacked by everyone around her. There's one scene in particular where this is very apparent, and one of the most amazing scenes I've ever seen in any film, both for it's message and visual pleasure. So, if one can get past the T & A exploitative aspects of these films (which I find nothing wrong with taking into account the setting of the film), both of these films are highly recommended.

[Guest kenichiku]

Chang Cheh, 7 Man Army (R3) **** - a no-nonsense conservative patriotic Kung Fu war flick that even the usual members of the rebellious cast respected; the technology of filming war has changed since but it’s still packs the punch that it did. Ti Lung appropriately as the commander, with privates DC, Fu Sheng, Chen Kuan Tai, Chi Kuan Chuan, Lee Yi Min and the rare appearance of Taiwan’s Pai Ying. Wang Lung Wei, Liang Chia Jen, Gordon Liu, Mao Tien and a couple of Venoms co-stars as part of the Sino-Axis forces.

Cheng Kang, Sword of Swords (R3) ***.5 – Jimmy Wang Yu plays his ambivalent hero without the macho persona of Fang Kang; this rustic story more than backs the reticence of his tragic character. Wuxia quests and revenge aren’t always neat and clean as this one doesn’t wince at the slaughtering of innocents and the escalating sadism from those responsible (furnished by Tien Feng & Huang Chung Hsin). Junior director Cheng Kang just gave the words collateral damage another meaning. Liked it better this time; the Remaster rocks.

Hsieh Chun, Blue Skies (R3) **** - w/Peter Chen Ho, Margaret Tu Chuan & Cheng Pei Pei (here a splitting image of her future daughter Marsha). Of all the Shaws 60s musicals (HK Nocturne, HK Rhapsody, Lark, Les Belles) that dotr my memory during my childhood, this one has always struck me as the one bearing the most soul. Tsin Ting’s torch rendition of ‘Love over the Lotus Pond’ among others sticks to your craw as it sums up ‘all about’ innocent showbiz child Cheng Pei Pei’s Eve that suffers through the peaks and valleys thru life as her Prince Charming never wavers to find her. It’s been 35 years since last revisiting and it strikes the same heartstrings from a whole different era. Didn’t strike me as treacley then, doesn’t now.

[Guest KLSADAKO]

Shaw brothers film called River of Fury. Danny Lee had a nice endfight with Ku Feng who always makes a great villian! Lily Ho performed her peking opera scenes very well! It was quite a sad film but I enjoyed it!

[Guest kenichiku]

Chu Yuan, Sex Love & Hate (R3) **.5 – w/Lily Ho, Ching Li, Hsu Feng, Tsung Hua, Ling Yun, Yueh Hua. Chu’s usually great with weaving ensemble tales (72 Tenants, HK 73, Killer Clans, Big Holdup, Sorrow of the Gentry) but I didn’t buy too much of this faux tapestry that faintly resembled a mediocre 70s Rob Altman/Alan Rudolph title on the surface but lacking half the depth of the stuff by those American masters. I’m stopping short of calling this Chu’s failed opportunity until I rewind again with 70s sensibilities and reinterpreted subtitles because for a film like this, verbal accuracy makes all the difference.

Syriana (theatrical) ***.5 – CIA assassinations, Saudi Gazillonaires, deep pocketed Chinese players, rogue Iranian arm dealings, Bin Laden family Construction conglomerate signs on skyscrapers implied some boundaries that 'they' are not too eager for the public to cross; yet it took me 2 theatre visits to completely digest it and made me think twice when filling gas in my tank & I'm never gonna clip my nails again without cringing. Also, it’s also the only George Clooney-Matt Damon flick that didn’t bore me (perhaps in part THEY were victims of a boondoggle 'heist'); helped having the cast that played the Pakistani characters were so good. Not as subversive and anti-American as the GOP/Oil lobby might lead you to believe. There's plenty of blame to go around. The whole Middle-east oil cartel & influence existed way before Bush & even during the watch of past liberal administrations, so lighten up out there neo-con faithfuls, watching it won't turn you into a pillar of salt.

Fun with Dick and Jane (theatrical) * - w/Jim Carrey making a paycheck, Tea Leoni looking great & another clichéd corporate bad-guy Alec Baldwin but this uninspired waste-of-time makes the Jane Fonda/George Segal original stand as a lost masterpiece. I yearned for Ace Ventura or even Bruce Almighty chuckles but I got Truman Show neither as the producers who made this are not the smartest guys in the room. It's topical script with it’s timely white collar crime message in the era of corporate Enron-Tyco-WorldCom downfalls needed a good film to platform the rage of a democracy’s working citizens but this flaccid piece of airline fodder left no-one in the audience laughing, only except for mr. Ken Lay in front of his plasma screening room at the Hilton they call a prison.

Pierre Morel, Banlieue 13 (R2) *** - more Luc Besson stylied popcorn fun nodding to the ethnic youth of France (who’s in need of more positive recognition I afraid). This ranks in between ‘Wasabi’ and his original ‘Taxi’ by adding some early Jackie Chan style KF pugilistics featuring some inventive high-rise apartment hopping fun. Now kids, please don’t try emulate jumping your rooftops at home – they used CGI and Hollywood, please spare us from emulating a remake starring Queen Latifah.

[add, gram]

[Guest rebelliousreign1]

Over the past few months I've become a devotee of cult 60s/70s TV shows like 'The Avengers' (and 'The New Avengers'), 'Man In A Suitcase', 'Department S' (plus 'Jason King'), 'The Champions' and 'The Professionals', so I've been watching copious amounts of those.

As a result I've been off Kung Fu for a while, but I'm back to it recently and the last couple I watched were superb; 'Gambling For Head' is one of the best rare films I've seen as it has a highly charged storyline and some brutal fight scenes. 'Bloody Fists' also had a ton of violent, hard hitting action scenes and 'Knockabout' had some of the greatest fights I've ever seen.

In other genres, I really enjoyed the classic Spaghetti western 'Death Rides A Horse' and the homage to them, 'The Quick and The Dead'.

[Guest kenichiku]

Belated reconciliations of late:

video:

Chu Yuan, Hidden Power of the Dragon Sabre (r3) *** - too insane fun; see the beginnings of the HK Mo-lei-tao trend

Tang Chia, Shaolin Intruders (R3) **** - fanatically delirious

Kimiyoshi Yasuda, Shin Zatôichi: Yabure! Tojin-ken aka Zatoichi vs One Armed Swordsman - good pan-asian culture clash script

Karel Reisz, Who'll Stop the Rain (r1) ***.5 - great Vietnam era noir

Clint Eastwood, Mystic River (r1) **** - great acting throughout with a script of the 'Sleepers' variety

Yoji Yamada, Kokyo aka Home from the Sea (r3) *** - Tora-san's regulars does it right

early Martin Scorcese, Boxcar Bertha (R1) ***.5 - spare Corman quickee

Scorcese, The Aviator (r1) ****- great retro-americana of grandparent's era

theatricals:

Toshiaku Toyda, Kûchû teien (aka Hanging Garden) ****.5 - topically suburban modern

Mikio Naruse, Shu-u aka Sudden Rain ***.5 - 50s domesticity w/half of Ozu's cast

Mikio Naruse, Okasan aka Mother *** - postwar Japan tearjerker

Len Wiseman, Underworld: Evolution **.5 - some blue tinted good kills!

Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain ***.5 - lyrical & conservative

Terence Malick, The New World ***.5 - a mental & environmental tuning fork

Neil Jordan, Breakfast on Pluto ****.5 - engaging tapestry of 70s Dublin slice of life

[Guest lacali]

Just finished watching A Home Too Far. Pretty good flick with Andy Lau Tak Wah about the fight with Chinese communist in the early formation of independent Taiwain.

Also, I watched Stoner two days ago. A good Golden Harvest classic martial arts with Angela Mao Ying.

[bobo]

i watch most of the recently released movies that are considered to be action flicks. action here includes slasher movies- science fiction--monsters-- adventures- cop buddy movies--anything with car chases -explosions - gun battles . i also collect and watch old school spaghetti westerns---examples-- DAY OF ANGER--DEATH RIDES A HORSE--THE GREAT SILENCE--and obviously all the clint eastwood tittles. oh ya before i forget i also collect and watch HOCKEY FIGHTS.:rollin :evil :rollin

[Barsader]

Heroes of sung-3/5..your average run of the mill early 70's.

non-Kf:

Crash-4.5/5-Wow.a great film about racial tensions in L.A.

Star ensemble cast(Larenz Tate showing-yes.)

when you find yourself screaming at the T.V. at certain scenes, that has to be a good thing!

Bad santa-good ol' slingblade being a souless criminal as Santa

at the mall.In the end it turns out to be a "feel good" film, but you could see that coming.oops-3/5

[Guest kenichiku]

So what ELSE you may ask? Lesse, in the past quarter:

Woody Allen, Matchpoint **** – Some steamy crimes & misdemeanors for our world leaders to think about the post-911 era. You can think again.

Dick Loncraine, Firewall **- Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen. Paul Bettany; I’m speechless about this sleepwalk I mean, at no point did I feel his family was in true danger.

Tom Dey, Failure to Launch **.5 – I like Sarah Jessie & Zoe Daschanel, just didn’t like this film. What's with all those animal attacks?

Richard Donner, 16 Blocks ***.5 – Bruce Willis, Mos Def, David Morse; Just like they used to make those great 70s New York cop flicks; could spot those Toronto alley-ways a mile away.

Wayne Kramer, Running Scared ***.5 – Some nasty ingredients: an across 110th beginning, stray dogs, aging goombahs, kiddy snuff & John Wayne fans gone berserk, a grim fairy tale on working class family values, the f**kin’ Jersey way (by way of Prague). Don’t think, just watch n' enjoy.

Sidney Lumet, Find Me Guilty ***.5 - The Diesel man finally hit one; Wiseguys fighting racketeering & breaking Rico statutes.w/Vin, Ron Silver, Annabella Sciorra give stand out performances. It really brings me back to the days of ‘Prince of the City’, ‘The Verdict’ & ’12 Angry Men’.

Frank Marshall, Eight Below ***.5 – I’m a sucker for those Old Yeller Disney flicks.

Tyler Perry, Madea’s Family Reunion (theatrical) *** - Some serious old school family values. All the functions & the dysfunctions are there. There are three generations of black Hollywood in attendance including afro community royalty Cecily Tyson & Maya Angelou.

McTeague, V for Vendetta ***- a very compromised Hollywood view of an Orwellian England. Stick to Mike Radford's somber sepia-wash '1984', besides it had John Hurt too with the late Richard Burton & the sounds of Annie Lennox. More faithful to their source than with Moore (otherwise he wouldn't of dissociate himself from this film). The concept pencilled in promising but like the Matrix sequels, the Warchowskian vision didn't fulfill for me. All flash & little soul.

[Guest abbott white]

I,ve been watching the television

[Guest tino]

Watched Ultimate Fighting Championship 3 and 4, King Kong,& Wolf Creek. King Kong was ok not my cup of tea really. Wolf Creek wasnt as bad as I expected it to be. A decent horror movie based on true events that happened in Australia. Royce Gracie's tough battle with Kimo and a fresh alternate Steve Jennum winning the final in UFC 3. UFC 4 shows the beast Dan Severn for the first time in the octagon. Royce and Severn make it to the finals and have a 15 min. match that Royce wins with a triangle choke.