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

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Evil Hits Evil- good low budget kung fu/horror. Alan Lau does a great acting job and his performance really adds to the spooky feel of the movie. And it's always a pleasure to see Kwan Young Moon in action. He’s dangerous in this one. Good kicking of course, and he punches a guy’s head off.

[ShaOW!linDude]

On Thanksgiving it was:

ONG BAK 2 & 3

The following night is was:

THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNY TAO

See "My Many MiniReviews".

[Michael L.]

Other than kung fu movies? Giant ass monster movies... Gamera, War of the Monsters, Destroy All Planets, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla Final Wars all in the last few days.

Guess whose podcast is doing a daikaiju episode?

[DeathFuMaster]

Batman Under the Red Hood

Ring 0 (it sucked but i wanted to see them all)

[AlbertV]

Bare Knuckles - writing a draft of the review for the main page, but it combines the tournament genre with a Lifetime Movie of the Week drama. Both guys and girls may like the film (guys for the 80's style fights, which have boxing and kickboxing; girls for the drama)...gonna see if the wife would watch it.

Green Lantern: First Flight - I actually enjoyed this cartoon. Christopher Meloni did a great job voicing Hal Jordan. Kind of takes the origin story and delves into the rivalry with Sinestro. Makes me anticipate the Ryan Reynolds version, but will have to wait.

Hunt to Kill - a little slow paced but highlight was definitely Steve Austin and Gary Daniels duking it out. Daniels doesn't do much until this fight scene and he just shines. Fight lasts about 4-5 minutes.

Ninja's Creed - WTF was Pat Morita and Eric Roberts thinking when they did this film. If you miss one minute, the story makes no sense and even still, the fight scenes were shoddy as most were taken in the dark. Pretty much a wasted effort for Pat Morita's final film. If you want to see a real fun tribute to Morita's last hurrah, see 18 Fingers of Death, where he is good as James Lew's daddy.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Ninja's Creed - WTF was Pat Morita and Eric Roberts thinking when they did this film. If you miss one minute, the story makes no sense and even still, the fight scenes were shoddy as most were taken in the dark. Pretty much a wasted effort for Pat Morita's final film. If you want to see a real fun tribute to Morita's last hurrah, see 18 Fingers of Death, where he is good as James Lew's daddy.

Oh, dude! I wasted my money on this a few months ago! This movie sux! You can miss all the minutes you want to 'cause the story will never make any sense. I had a better fight scene punching myself repeatedly in the face for buying this than anything this had to offer.

And yeah, 18 Fingers of Death........Love kung spoof!

[kngfu]

REIGN OF ASSASSINS I wasn't a big fan of the 90's wire filled swordplay films, but I found myself loving this movie.

HUNT TO KILL Not a bad entry in the Steve Austin direct to video file but it gets really corny at the end. Gary Daniels plays a villan and has a good fight with Stone Cold.

[AlbertV]

Locked Down - Yes, I finally saw Tapout's latest thriller. I am currently drafting a review for the main page, but bottom line is that if anyone saw CIRCLE OF PAIN, where they cut down on the nudity and focused more on the story, it is a decent action film. After seeing COP, I became a Tony Schiena fan and he doens't disappoint here either. Bai Ling does mostly grimace for the cameras as a corrupt prison guard and I got a bad taste in my mouth when she has a love scene with....Vinnie Jones?! The fights, not too bad...these films will never be on the level of Undisputed III but for what they used, not too bad.

[ZoSo]

In memory of Leslie Nielsen, last night I watched "The Creature Wasn't Nice" (AKA Spaceship, AKA Naked Space). Love it, actually one of my favorite Nielsen comedies!

[ShaOW!linDude]

Red Light ---- a documentary narrated by Lucy Liu about Asia's child sex slave trade. It's absolutely unthinkable what some of the girls and women have been put through. And it's so easy for the criminals involved, both the suppliers and the clients, to escape prosecution even after arrest with more than sufficient evidence (eye witness accounts, photographs, being caught in the act literally). They just buy off the courts, judges, police. There are 2 women featured who work with lots of these girls. They were both nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in '09. One of them is Somaly Mam. Her personal story is heartbreaking. And because of her activism, her own 14 yr. old daughter was kidnapped, beaten, and raped.

It's 75 mins. long. I encourage everyone to see this. It will affect you on some level.

I have 2 little girls. I watch something like this.............I'm ready to go lump some heads.

[Fightingfist]

Im watching Virtua Fighter- Animated series 1

[DeathFuMaster]

Im watching Thudercats, got the whole series last year and just now have the time to sit down and relive the good ole days. Always watching lots of SNL best ofs.

[AlbertV]

Was sick today so I watched

THE GUY WITH SECRET KUNG FU - Meng Fei and Li Chung-Chien

SHAOLIN DEADLY KICKS - Tan Tao-Liang and Doris Lung

catching up on SAMURAI SENTAI SHINKENGER to prepare for POWER RANGERS SAMURAI...from the teaser, the new PR show looks to be Shinkenger just Americanized in terms of the story, minus all the period Samurai lord and retainers. Looks like PRS will be a good series.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Odd One Dies (1997: Patrick Yau Tat-chi: Hong Kong): ***½/****

Analogous to Expect The Unexpected (1998) and The Longest Nite (1998) Patrick Yau is the nominal director in The Odd One Dies but did not do the majority of directing (though Yau has stated this this film he had the most input of the three). The uncredited director is Johnnie To whose production company Milkyway Image was, of course, the force behind the film. Aside from those three films (which I have seen) Patrick was credited to one more film The Loser's Club (2001; which I have not seen) and apparently his film career has been over since then. But when watching the movie it is easy to see many familiar elements of To including genre (shashou pian: professional killer genre), incorporation of black humor and Lam Suet.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is a laconic nameless street thug who is either on a death wish or just does not care. I see a bit of this character in Louis Koo's performance in Throw Down (2004), but when you watch this it is hard not to think of Takeshi's two previous Wong Kar-wai roles as well. Takashi after getting losing much money in gambling decides to take on a hired killer role for a decent amount of cash. Since he is hell-bent he gambles a good portion of that money away as well. He loses thousands after thousands without as much as a wince. But then the strangest thing happens, he starts to win and he wins big. Then he decides to hire someone else to do the killing.

The new hired killer is a female (Carman Lee) who is just out of jail from a previous man-slaughter case (she killed her cousin for her boyfriend) and she is just as laconic and nuts as he is. They, of course, become attached to each other.

I had a lot of fun with the film. There is a quirky comedic style to this that is very dark, but still quite bloody good (literally). There is a recurring fingers lopping off joke (when the same character catches a knife from both Takeshi and later Carman) that is brutally hilarious but also leads to a strong scene of redemption at the end. The direction is also quirky. You get a great look of Hong Kong in this film. There is an excellent scene of Takeshi running around a busy area crossing one street after another. He is almost hit several times and it is great to see the passerby expression (many of these movies will be filmed with many people not knowing they are being filmed). All filmed with no (or very little) cuts. In fact it is quite reminiscent to a similar scene in Police Story 2 with Jackie Chan.

I really wish these films would get more recognition.

Not the easiest film to get a hold of as there is no R1 edition out there. Luckily there have been a decent amount of used copies available from a Mei Ah R0 1997(?) release. It looks exactly like a LD port and I have read that some copies do not necessarily work on all DVD players as well. Luckily mine did. There are no extras though.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I just saw this movie called Hit Girl. No, actually it's called, um. Well I can't remember the name. It's called Kicking or something like that. There's this little girl in the movie that is BADASS. The movie was good, but Hit Girl made it great. I'm on such a high after seeing this!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

It looks exactly like a LD port and I have read that some copies do not necessarily work on all DVD players as well. Luckily mine did.

Yeah you got lucky. The 90% of the movie I saw was great

[ShaOW!linDude]

I just saw this movie called Hit Girl. No, actually it's called, um. Well I can't remember the name. It's called Kicking or something like that. There's this little girl in the movie that is BADASS. The movie was good, but Hit Girl made it great. I'm on such a high after seeing this!

Morgoth, I think the name of the movie you're talking about is KICK-ASS.

I watched a movie called MANIC (2001) I'd rec'ed off IFC. Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Cheadle, Zooey Deschanel. JGL plays a young man prone to violent outbursts named Lyle who is sent to a facility for troubled kids. DC is the counselor. ZD is a young woman with self-esteem problems who is there as well. The casting and acting is spot on. The subject matter will make you more than a little uncomfortable sometimes. (I'm liking JGL's talent. I foresee an Oscar in that boy's future.)

[DiP]

The Odd One Dies (1997: Patrick Yau Tat-chi: Hong Kong): ***½/****

Analogous to Expect The Unexpected (1998) and The Longest Nite (1998) Patrick Yau is the nominal director in The Odd One Dies but did not do the majority of directing (though Yau has stated this this film he had the most input of the three). The uncredited director is Johnnie To whose production company Milkyway Image was, of course, the force behind the film. Aside from those three films (which I have seen) Patrick was credited to one more film The Loser's Club (2001; which I have not seen) and apparently his film career has been over since then. But when watching the movie it is easy to see many familiar elements of To including genre (shashou pian: professional killer genre), incorporation of black humor and Lam Suet.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is a laconic nameless street thug who is either on a death wish or just does not care. I see a bit of this character in Louis Koo's performance in Throw Down (2004), but when you watch this it is hard not to think of Takeshi's two previous Wong Kar-wai roles as well. Takashi after getting losing much money in gambling decides to take on a hired killer role for a decent amount of cash. Since he is hell-bent he gambles a good portion of that money away as well. He loses thousands after thousands without as much as a wince. But then the strangest thing happens, he starts to win and he wins big. Then he decides to hire someone else to do the killing.

The new hired killer is a female (Carman Lee) who is just out of jail from a previous man-slaughter case (she killed her cousin for her boyfriend) and she is just as laconic and nuts as he is. They, of course, become attached to each other.

I had a lot of fun with the film. There is a quirky comedic style to this that is very dark, but still quite bloody good (literally). There is a recurring fingers lopping off joke (when the same character catches a knife from both Takeshi and later Carman) that is brutally hilarious but also leads to a strong scene of redemption at the end. The direction is also quirky. You get a great look of Hong Kong in this film. There is an excellent scene of Takeshi running around a busy area crossing one street after another. He is almost hit several times and it is great to see the passerby expression (many of these movies will be filmed with many people not knowing they are being filmed). All filmed with no (or very little) cuts. In fact it is quite reminiscent to a similar scene in Police Story 2 with Jackie Chan.

I really wish these films would get more recognition.

Not the easiest film to get a hold of as there is no R1 edition out there. Luckily there have been a decent amount of used copies available from a Mei Ah R0 1997(?) release. It looks exactly like a LD port and I have read that some copies do not necessarily work on all DVD players as well. Luckily mine did. There are no extras though.

This is one of the best Milkyway-produced movies ever. The style is visually appreciative and the mood of everything is so catchy and memorable. Kaneshiro does a good acting job but this is Carmen Lee's show. Too bad she never went on to make more films shortly afterwards because this was her calling card to bigger and better roles.

I recall Fortune Star buying the right to Mei Ah's film catalogue some years ago. This movie - along with Beyond Hypothermia, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, Running on Karma, Running Out of Time, Throw Down, and Wu Yen - are among the titles acquired. Someone might correct me on this though because I'm not too sure if this still stands (Chen Lung?).

http://adg.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=3236&hl=fortune+star

http://intl.startv.com.tw/FSTAR/pdf/fs%20brochure.pdf

[AlbertV]

Watched the final episodes of SAMURAI SENTAI SHINKENGER and I have to say I love the twist from episodes 45 to the finale. It was a surprise to see what transpired.

Watched the entire J-Drama TOKYO LOVE STORY. I became a Yuji Oda when I saw the last few episodes of this when I was 13 and then seeing him in WHITEOUT ("Die Hard on a Dam") and BAYSIDE SHAKEDOWN. The full 11-episode series is quite a delight to watch if you like J-Drama.

Today, I'm going to enjoy a triple dose of Chow Yun-Fat:

RICH AND FAMOUS

PRISON ON FIRE

PRISON ON FIRE II

I rented these from my job and since I will be working tomorrow, I can return them. We have a ton of Asian cinema at the library I work at.

[ShaOW!linDude]

PUSH

Stars: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou, Camilla Belle

Had an "Inception-y" flavor to it. (Of course, nothing beats that film.) Folks with mental abilities though. Interesting premise. The action and special f/x were pretty good. I definitely recommend it for a watch. (I rec-ed it of a movie channel. If you can't do that, rent it.)

Camilla Belle is the girl that was in "10,000 B.C." I knew she looked familiar to me. Very pretty.

[Asmo]

I've been watching Cartoon Planet.

[kngfu]

WIND AND CLOUD:THE STORM RIDERS Silly and totally confusing Tai Seng edit of a strange looking series. Zhao When Zhao still looks cool amidst the silly wigs and outrageous flying of his costars.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Yeah you got lucky. The 90% of the movie I saw was great

Hee hee, when I wrote that I remember your review except that I forgot you wrote that. I reread it a few days back.

This is one of the best Milkyway-produced movies ever. The style is visually appreciative and the mood of everything is so catchy and memorable. Kaneshiro does a good acting job but this is Carmen Lee's show. Too bad she never went on to make more films shortly afterwards because this was her calling card to bigger and better roles.

I recall Fortune Star buying the right to Mei Ah's film catalogue some years ago. This movie - along with Beyond Hypothermia, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, Running on Karma, Running Out of Time, Throw Down, and Wu Yen - are among the titles acquired. Someone might correct me on this though because I'm not too sure if this still stands (Chen Lung?).

http://adg.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=3236&hl=fortune+star

http://intl.startv.com.tw/FSTAR/pdf/fs%20brochure.pdf

Thanks for the links and the info. I liked that PDF, though I have older versions of many of those on DVD. I do hope Fortune Star gets to put out some better editions of those films .

I liked Carman Lee Yeuk-Tung's performance and will write more on her when I do a proper review of the film.

Now to state that it is one of the "best Milkyway-produced movies ever" is a tough one to say . I like so many of those movies that I can't quite put that film up there with The Mission (1999), The Longest Nite (1998), Throw Down (2004), Mad Detective (2007), Sparrow (2008) but time and multiple watches might, of course, change my mind.

[Cesare]

Black Death (2010) - a very good film; good story, good acting and some very interesting questions raised... And dirt, mud, blood and gore galore.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1181791/

[DeathFuMaster]

Watched some stuff off of Netflix instant queue last night.

Who's Your Daddy

The Human Centipede

and a few episodes of Blue Mountain State