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

[AlbertV]

TOKYO FIST - Shinya Tsukamoto's insane boxing flick about two former high school friends, one a lowly insurance salesman, the other a washed-up boxer who compete over the love of the salesman's fiancee. The salesman begins to take up boxing to compete with his former friend. It is a mad film with one of the craziest finales I've ever seen. Then again, this is the guy who did the insane TETSUO films.

TOKYO STORY - Yasujiro Ozu's timeless 1953 classic film about an elderly couple leaving their small town to go to Tokyo to see their married children. The film has great cinematography and editing with a tale of generation gaps and life changing within family.

GEN-Y COPS - For some reason, despite Edison Chen talking all "gangsta" at times, I actually enjoyed this film, mainly because of Stephen Fung and Paul Rudd. They helped drive the film with Fung's former playboy cop from GEN-X COPS butting heads with Rudd's hard-headed FBI agent all while Edison's buddy steals a hi-tech robot he designed. Oh, and Sam Lee doing his best in English and Maggie Q also helped.

THE WOMEN - not the crappy 2008 remake, but the 1939 original film. Definitely a great film with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Rusell, and Paulette Goddard leading an all-female cast.

PRODIGAL - had to watch this again. This, along with DRIFTER TKD, stand as two of my favorite independent martial arts films. The film was a nice mix of Christian faith and exciting martial arts action with Reverend D.A. Jackson kicking butt with his use of Chinese martial arts and Jackson doing a nice run and flip off a moving car in one stunt sequence. The finale could have been done a lil better, but still a really good film IMO.

[Cesare]

Black Swan - somewhat overrated, methinks - but a very good movie nonetheless.

Sacrifice - Chen Kaige's historical drama about the orphan of Zhao. Awesome stuff. Ge You and Wang Xueqi *so* rule. And the supporting cast is brilliant as well (with the possible exception of Huang Xiaoming, who is "only" decent - but he kind of makes up for it with his looks, I guess).

Wanee & Junah - I have never been much into romances but this one is absolutely brilliant.

[Megadautilus]

I watched Takashi Miike's remake of Graveyard of Honor. 4/5.

[AlbertV]

I watched Takashi Miike's remake of Graveyard of Honor. 4/5.

I really enjoyed that one due to Goro Kishitani's very energetic performance.

ZODIAC KILLERS - Ann Hui's take on Chinese students living the hard life in Japan. Andy Lau gives out a rousing performance and Cherie Chung was great as the girl Lau falls for only to learn she fell for a Japanese assassin. Kurata-san is in this as well as a benevolent Yakuza boss whose sister marries Lau's friend.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Last night me and Mrs. sat up and watched a documentary some of her coworkers had told her about. It just happened to come on a week or so ago and I dvr'ed it. It's title.........

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

This is a family (last name: White) who lives in Boone County, W. V. and are renown for their redneck ways. They all (it seems) live on government assistance, drink, smoke, fight, breed, do all manner of drugs, have done or are doing time, and swear (of course). And I'm talking men and women both. They have a rather interesting, short, "family tree" history and the doc covers them through about 3 generations. Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass" fame(?) is one of the producers of this. The camera crew filmed the family for a year and what transpires is.........it's something else, man.

These people have no consideration for anyone other than themselves. It's like watching a mutant aberration of the gene pool of mankind. (Hmmmm, that seems harsh to say but....) These folks are coarse and shallow. The stupidity of their attitude about life and the like left me..........well, dumbfounded (rather ironically). Seriously, once you start watching this, you can't stop. I don't think they'll get a reality show though. It would have to be cleaned up too much and that would ruin the........ambiance/nature/genuineness(?).......of these people.

I dreamed about them last night after watching. Freaky.

[AlbertV]

DUCK SOUP - The classic Marx Brothers film from 1933 with all four brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo) involved in a potential war between Freedonia and Sylvania. The brothers are at their best. Groucho and Chico at their wittiest. Zeppo is the more serious at times of the group and Harpo is the "randiest" of the bunch...no joke...subliminally indicates a three-way with a woman and a freaking horse in a parody of Paul Revere!

[teako170]

Wanted to share a few more flix that I watched this past week....

Angel Heart (1987)

Pre-plastic surgery Mickey Rourke as a private dick. Co-starring Robert DeNiro.

Film that may have helped Lisa Bonet get the boot from The Cosby Show due to her sex scene w/ Rourke.

Very well done. Excellent editing. Nice twist ending.

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The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)

Lesser known Ingrid Bergman flick. Based on the real life tale of Gladys Aylward, a Brit turned Chinese missionary --

who shepherded 100+ children over the mountains to safety at the height of the Sino-Japanese war.

From IMDb:

This was Robert Donat's last film; he died during its making. In the scene where he is saying goodbye to Gladys --

he says as though he was prophesying his own death, "I fear we shall never see each other again."

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Little Children (2006)

Kate Winslet fights the doldrums of suburbia (ala American Beauty).

Wasn't too fond of the voice-over narration but Jackie Earle Haley's storyline was pretty disturbing.

JEH? Remember Moocher in Breaking Away? That's him - all grown up - and with a BIG problem.

IiJLJd7cH1c

[Lionclaw]

The Descent 1 & 2: I barely like horror movies but this one was actually very well made. It was a very psychological too. The second one was okay but ignored the awesome original ending of the first. I don't think it needed a sequel.

[AlbertV]

I was home sick yesterday, so I got to catch these movies:

KNUCKLEHEAD - a MMA comedy that stars WWE Star Paul "The Big Show" Wight as a man whose never seen life outside of an orphanage. When he is given a chance by a shameless fight promoter to win money to help the orphanage, he learns a thing or two not just about fighting, but life as well...even the promoter gets a life lesson or two in the process. Very funny at times, definitely a worthy straight to DVD film IMO.

THE TOWN - Ben Affleck's recent film about the world of bank robbers in a suburban part of Boston. Affleck and Jeremy Renner really gave out excellent performances as best friends who almost go at war with each other when Affleck decides he wants out. Affleck also made for a good director with this film.

[crazedjustice888]

I haven't been watching any movies, but series.

I have been watching Ohranger, Kakuranger, Gokaiger, Power Rangers Samurai and MEDABOTS!!!

Yeah...BIG nerd...lol By the by, the first three I listed are super sentai for those who don't know. These are what Power rangers is based on.

[AlbertV]

I haven't been watching any movies, but series.

I have been watching Ohranger, Kakuranger, Gokaiger, Power Rangers Samurai and MEDABOTS!!!

Yeah...BIG nerd...lol By the by, the first three I listed are super sentai for those who don't know. These are what Power rangers is based on.

I'm a huge Super Sentai fan. I have the entire Dekaranger (SPD), Gekiranger (Jungle Fury), Shinkenger (Power Rangers Samurai), Goseiger, and am working on Gokaiger.

SHOCK TREATMENT - a sequel to the 1975 cult classic THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. I had mixed feelings...wished Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon would have returned (Jessica Harper was ok, but Cliff De Young's take on Brad made him an even bigger wuss), but I did like some of the songs from this film too.

[Michael L.]

Ummm... watching some non-kung fu movies to review on the podcast (check out Flying DVDs Of Death to find out what... it might be zombies and westerns). Also saw Adjustment Bureau because the wife wanted to and it was at the theater down the street (run by my old friend). She owes me because it was a steaming pile of crap.... Watched Three Coins In The Fountain with her tonight; I have to say, I have a soft spot for the old movies and anything that boasts a Sinatra theme song is okay in my book!

Keep wanting to pick up All Star Superman but I am still PO'ed at Warner Brothers so I'll probably wait until it hits Netflix instant... strange no one has told me that it is awesome yet.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Keep wanting to pick up All Star Superman but I am still PO'ed at Warner Brothers so I'll probably wait until it hits Netflix instant... strange no one has told me that it is awesome yet.

The animation is good. It has its moments. Not the best DC has put out though IMO. Watch it before you buy to decide for yourself.

[Michael L.]

They have gotten really spotty with stuff lately... After New Frontier I was looking forward to some bold decisions with stories to cover (like Teen Titans). Instead, it seems to have turned into "I wish we still made Justice League." I wish they still made Justice League, too, but heck... Maybe now that Young Justice is kickin' they'll go a bit more adult (in tone).

Oh yeah, I'm watching Dragonball Z Kai, GI Joe Renegades, Transformers Prime (for the moment; it is starting to lose me) and gearing up for the return of Destination Truth. I also just discovered the greatest bad ass cop show ever:

EAGLEHEART (with Chris Elliot)

[peringaten]

Went all nostalgic and worked my way through Mysterious Cities Of Gold. Loved it.

[ShaOW!linDude]

CODE OF SILENCE

See "My Many MiniReviews".

Oh, yeah. I've been digging on EAGLEHEART, too.

[AlbertV]

Had a little double feature on Saturday

DOWNTOWN TORPEDOES (1997) - Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jordan Chan play two international spies who work primarily stealing from industrial companies. They are hired by a rogue HK agent to steal plates that make near-perfect British sterling. Directed by Teddy Chen, the film was actually pretty fun to watch...some interesting twists drove the story and the plot could be described as a cross of political thriller and a CSI episode.

SKYLINE CRUISERS (2000) - Leon Lai headlines this "unofficial" sequel to Downtown Torpedoes as professional thief Mac, who teams with former partner Jordan Chan and small time thieves Sam Lee and Michelle Saram to find a vaccine that cures cancer from a rogue doctor who claims he invented the medicine only to kill his rival's family. Add to the mix the mysterious Shu Qi and three goons, one of whom was responsible for the death of Mac's girlfriend three years ago. Directed by Wilson Yip, this too was a fun thriller..some nice action choreographed by Jacky Yeung and insane car stunts too.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Laughing Times (1980: John Woo: Hong Kong) *½/****:

I have heard horror stories on the quality of John Woo's comedy. I figured he was like John Ford in the aspect that he can use comedy in films but would have more trouble doing a comedy. While I have not seen enough of his farce to make a superlative judgment of his comedic abilities this movie is not a healthy prognosticator of what I can expect in his other “humorous” movies.

I am not a fan of under-cranking. Its jerky motion caused by frame manipulation makes me annoyed especially when it is overused. I do not even like it in otherwise fine films like The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970: Sam Peckinpah). In Laughing Times it is used so much that it becomes so overbearingly irritating that if it was not for the sound you were thinking you were watching the movie on fast forward. I was debating whether this was used because silent films were projected at the wrong speed which gave them that sped-up look and John Woo wanted to replicate that or in fact that Woo wanted a Benny Hill style of humor through many of the chase scenes.

Dean Shek Tin is sometimes derided by fans of Hong Kong cinema for his over-the-top demeanor and comedic styling that would have worked well in vaudeville, but have not always translated to later day movie goers. I am more ambivalent than some about his abilities; I have sometimes liked his goofy demeanor in such films as Drunken Master (1978) and Fearless Hyena I (1979). But never would I have thought of him as portraying Charlie Chaplin. He is gangly, he is too tall, and his humor tends to be very broad. When you think of silent movie actors he is more like an Al St. John than a Charlie Chaplin. While he does overdo his acting several times in this film and his wheezing seems almost to the point of him having emphysema, his mannerisms are pretty close to Chaplin's (though why does it seem annoying when anyone but Charles pretends to be Charles Chaplin). But where I was surprised the most is that Shek is actually quite good at pantomime. In fact I feel that the problems behind the film are because of John Woo's story and comedic timing not because of Dean Shek though I would have picked a different actor because of Shek's difficulties with pathos. That would have been impossible to do since Dean co-owned the production company Cinema City for this film.

Shek plays the oriental Charlie Chaplin (called that in the film), a homeless wanderer who just happens across by happenstance various articles of clothing that make him resemble Charlie Chaplin much to the amusement of a passerby who laughs at him until walking into a wall (one of the few funny gags in the film). Charlie spots a beautiful female Chu Siu-man (Wong Sau-man) singing in an eatery for her opium-smoking dad and he glides on in and catches her attention by missing his chair and falling to the floor. He later saves and befriends a little orphan (Wong Wei playing the Jackie Coogan role from The Kid (1921)) who was being chased because of stealing food from a patron.

He later saves the hide of a drunk (Wu Ma) and then accidently destroys the liquor the drunk stole. Meanwhile the kid gets inadvertently involved with drug trafficking, gets arrested then escapes. However, the villain in charge who is also involved with child slavery (though he is faithful to his wife that he hates) Master Ting (Karl Maka whose eyebrows are the greatest thing in the film) feels he knows too much and should be dealt with appropriately. He kidnaps the kid from the help of two sunglass-wearing (yes before A Better Tomorrow (1986)) thugs who are quite incompetent like everyone else in the film. Charlie's beloved is also sold to slavery. Will Charlie be able to save them with the help of the drunk who also has a vendetta against Master Ting? Will you be able to make it this far in the film?

This was John Woo's first film for upstart Cinema City. It was Cinema City's first film as well. Not an auspicious beginning for anyone involved, but Cinema City would later make its mark on Hong Kong by creating the ultra-successful and influential comedic series Aces Go Places in 1982. This is a film I really cannot recommend to anyone except those who are looking to complete John Woo's oeuvre and those interested in the influence of silent film on Hong Kong cinema a topic that is vastly underrepresented in cinematic writings.* While there are moments that will remind you of John Woo, most obvious is the slow motion orgy of cake destruction which is one of the oddly better scenes in the movie, the movie is just not funny and some of the gags are more gross than funny like the goldfish eating/spitting of Master Ting. Its attempt at pathos throughout the movie never works.

Its name is taken off of Modern Times (1936) though originally the English title was Laughing Time for the amount of laughs in the film. In fact there are many gags lifted or done as homage to Chaplin's work. Everything from the boxing referee gag from City Lights (1931), the mechanical gag from The Circus (1928), trying to get a job but being pushed from queue to queue gag from A Dog's Life (1918), this scene also uses a gag lifted from The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) as well, to a somewhat funny reworking of another gag from A Dog's Life where Charlie is being the arms of a knocked out bad guy to eventually knock out the other bad buy. Some of these gags might seem fresh if you had not seem them before, but I would easily recommend the Chaplin films before watching this movie.

The DVD I have for this is the R0 Joy Sales Legendary Collection remastered edition. While the picture is fine, the English subtitles are not good with such fun ones as “look 82 years sheet sleeper” and “She Shine, Shoe Shine Alan Delon, Come Here.” That “Alan Delon” (sp Alain) part was probably written in by John Woo who is a big fan of that actor. There are Cantonese and Mandarin audios and traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles. The original trailer comes with this and it also has a photo gallery of lobby cards which is quite cool.

* John Charles in his excellent collection of reviews "The Hong Kong Filmography, 1977-1997" goes over a bit of this in his review on this film which is one of the few I have found on this movie. He also writes that part of the soundtrack was taken from John William's 1941 score.

[AlbertV]

Watched a bit of Bollywood:

DIL MAANGE MORE - This is one insane comedy that stars Shahid Kapoor as a young man from a small town in India. He goes to Mumbai to get his girlfriend back home. However, when she refuses, he decides to stay a while and gets a job at a record store. He falls for a local worker there, who in turn, turns out to have a boyfriend. Meanwhile, a girl who upon first meeting him can't stand him, falls for him. Things get more complicated when his girlfriend does return...it's madness...3 girls falling for 1 village boy?! Really funny at times.

DULHAN HUM LE JAYENGE - Salman Khan plays a hotel operator's son who hopes to find a wife. On a trip to Switzerland, he meets Karisma Kapoor. Of course, she can't stand him at first, but grows to love him. However, there stands three obstacles...Kapoor's 3 uncles; one a holy man, one a wrestling champion, and the third, an older man pretending like he is still in his 20's. Pretty funny at times as well, thanks to Johnny Lever, who plays Khan's buddy. This guy has a striking resemblance to George Lopez and even tends to act like G-Lo. Plus the uncle who acts young is a riot...he played the father in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Clash --- Johnny Tri Nguyen, Veronica Ngo.

My thanks to Karlos for sending me a copy of this from the UK. Can't wait for a proper US release. This has a good story with some solid action/MA. Not on par with The Rebel (imo) but it's still up there. It's better than most stuff coming out of late, it seems. Will watch this again and review it later.

[AlbertV]

KNUCKLEHEAD - I actually liked this movie. It stars Paul Wight, aka WWE superstar The Big Show, as a lovable orphan who had never seen the outside world. When he accidentally causes fire to the orphanage's kitchen, they are given 10 days to begin rebuilding, but they have no money. Enter a former MMA fighter turned promoter who is down in debt. When he sees Show, he decides to have him enter a MMA competition in New Orleans. Problem is? Show can't fight...yet. However, as the film progresses, Show goes from lovable caring orphan to a fighter with a heart of gold and even the promoter even goes through some life changes himself. Not too much stuff in the fight department, but there is a scene where Show's friend knocks out a waitress with a spin kick at a bar. The competition is not too bad and it was surprising to see Show do more than his usual wrestling shtick and even utilize a dose of MMA-like chokeholds. Pretty funny at times too, but mostly with fart jokes and humor.

[AlbertV]

Enjoying some "Soul Cinema" this weekend:

BADASSSSSSSSS CINEMA - A 56-minute documentary on Blaxploitation, featuring interviews with Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, and even Quentin Tarentino. Premiered on IFC and quite a watch.

I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA - one of my favorite spoofs of Blaxploitation and was the movie that would spawn the hit 90's series IN LIVING COLOR. Great scenes with Isaac Hayes and Jim Brown as well as Damon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison as Mr. Big's cronies. Plus, who can forget the fish in the platform shoes?

FOXY BROWN - Oh yeah, the "superbad" Pam Grier film with one of the best and surprising endings to a movie in Blaxploitation history IMO.

[kungpowmaster]

Last night I watched Joan Crawford in TROG. It was entertaining.

[AlbertV]

More Blaxploitation galore this past weekend:

COFFY - Pam Grier as a nurse by day, avenging angel by night as she goes after the drug pushers in the city after her little sister is doped up and put practically in a comatose state.

COOLEY HIGH - great film about two best friends in 1964 Chicago. The lead character of Preach would be the inspiration for Roger Thomas on the 70's series What's Happening.

HELL UP IN HARLEM - the sequel to BLACK CAESAR that brings back Fred Williamson as drug dealer Tommy Gibbs, as he 1) tries to go straight and 2) use his muscle to expose corrupt politicians who later go after him. There is a very brief martial arts fight where Williamson and his boys fight off white chicks in bikinis and Williamson throws a jumping roundhouse at one of them.

BUCKTOWN - Fred Williamson and Pam Grier team up for this action thriller about a man who fights corruption after learning of his brother's death only to learn the gang who helped him fight off the dirty cops have now planned to take over the town themselves. Grier sadly doesn't pull off anything like she did in COFFY and FOXY BROWN. This was clearly Williamson's show.

[The Dragon]

The Fighter

Mesrine:Killer Instinct

Takers

The Losers

All these films I found very entertaining. Can't wait for the sequel, Mesrine: Public Enemy.

Vincent Cassel is great!