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

[Sheng]

BULLET FOR HIRE (1991)

Dizzyingly OTT contract killer drama and as unflinchingly nihilistic, dark and bloody as they came back in the heyday of “heroic bloodshed” cinema. Jacky Cheung is well casted here as the conscienceless junior hitman and partner of seasoned tough-as-nails pro Simon Yam, with Lo Lieh’s convincingly taking on the avuncular, world weary mentor role to the latter. All three are minions of super lao ban Dick Wei and the story really kicks into overdrive when they’re double-crossed by their principal and Cheung develops a crush on Sheila Chan and begins to morally question his designated role as a Wei’s robotic terminator.

The frenetic showdown at the boss’s hillside mansion is just pure, unadulterated balletic gunplay with an entire army of goons mowed down, gazillions of exploding bloodpacks, some insane falls and flights through walls and windows and, after the ammo runs out, some bone-crunching hand-to-hand combat (or rather legwork in Dick Wei’s case). Nobody survives the carnage ‘cept Cheung and time after time the police shows up too late. In the days of SARFT “guidelines” they don’t really make ‘em like that anymore, don’t they?

Ancient and nowadays quite rare Ocean Shores DVD is cropped but still quite watchable with easy-to-follow burnt-in subs and definitely worth to search out!

POINT OF NO RETURN (1990)

Another blood-splashing hitman yarn starring Jacky Cheung, but a far less compelling one. A great cast in name here – Cheung, Joey Wong, Patrick Tam in his first-ever film role, Ken Lo, plus veteran actors Kenneth Tsang and Peter Yang Kwan – but everybody’s just going through the motions and Cheung and Tam’s buffoonish antics make them total miscasts as contract killers serving their ruthless dad, or, in Cheung’s case, his uncle (Kenneth Tsang). Only the flimsiest explanations why they do what they do are dished up (his uncle supposedly once saved Cheung’s life and adopted him) and generally the story lacks any sense of plausibility and the connections between the killer’s constituents remain entirely obscure. Its flabbergasting to witness for instance how speedily Joey Wong, casted as a part-time DJ and insurance agent and a righteous policeman’s daughter, reconciles herself with the fact that her new lover is a professional assassin and his brother the murderer of her father – but the film is full of those logic-defying inconsistencies.

Action design is merely passable, but there is some memorable stuntwork and Kenneth Tsang opening a flap on his plastic leg prosthesis and pulling out a gun in the final act had me in stitches!

Letterboxed old Mei Ah DVD looks halfway decent when zoomed-up, subs are a disaster though and manage to obscure some plot points considerably.

FROM HERE TO PROSPERITY (1986)

Occasionally quite amusing conman comedy set in mid 50s Thailand for the most part and starring the winning team of Richard Ng and David Chiang. Director Philip Chan probably had a pretty limited budget on this D & B production, so with the exception of a glimpse of the TST clocktower all the HK scenes are shot indoors and for the Thai locations they choose picturesque, but usually conspicuously depopulated outdoor spots. There’s basically just one cogent reason to hunt down this disc: Richard Ng's comedic genius! The man’s at the height of his wisecracking game here and literally pummels you with hilarious one-liners à la “you like revenge so much, go and make a Kung Fu movie!”

The print that Joy Sales dished up looks somewhat cropped like so many of their "anamorphic“ LC titles but overall PQ is tolerable and anyway its by far the best that exists. Subs are a friggin’ mess though.

[wongfeihung62]

[Secret Executioner]

If you like Mario Bava, I highly recommend Lisa And The Devil - and I mean the original one, not the recut called House Of Exorcism which destroys the atmosphere of the original by having these goofy possession scenes coming up randomly.

[blue_skies]

Predators – surprisingly good sequel that stayed very true to the original, well it's practically a remake in many ways.

From Paris with Love – Travolta was good and the action was pretty good for a Hollywood/French production. I didn't buy Travolta in the action stakes but I would probably watch this again.

Stargate universe – still part of the way through the first series, I think, and so far it rates as a fairly mediocre sci-fi series.

Big Bang Theory – I didn't really enjoy the last episode that much of the latest season still has tons of big laughs

[DiP]

Le Samourai (1967) - It's as great as ever. Use of themes such as the bushido code, honor and redemption are flawlessly executed and are very inspiring as well, having been influencing future directors in Hollywood and Asia ever since. Delon makes a perfect lead actor as the sharp hitman and Melville's style is a class of its' own. Rating: 10/10

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) - One of the primary movies in the sub-genre and Melville in his prime. It's yet another great team-up with Delon, whose charisma and interaction with the other leads really keeps you going as to what's going to happen. The heist scene is the icing of the cake displaying mastery of storytelling through silence, mood, and captivation keeping you at the edge of your seat. Rating: 10/10

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Two of my favorite movies of all time..... 10 out of 10 indeed.

[blue_skies]

Fast and Furious – on the whole I quite enjoyed the movie even though the action was not very good and some of it had my eyes rolling back into my head at how ludicrous parts were.

that 70s show – so funny

[bigrogie]

EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS 1 & 2. Two of my favorite music movies of all time. Great rock 'n' roll music.

[Secret Executioner]

Opera Metal Vol. 2

A collection of music videos, quite nice.

Within Temptation - Black Symphony (2008)

One of the greatest Symphonic Metal bands (seriously, Within Temptation is an amazing band) + a Symphony Orchestra + a choir = over 2 hours of epicness

[teako170]

Salvador (1986)

Gritty Oliver Stone retelling of the 80s conflict in Central America

The King's Speech (2010)

Colin Firth is superlative as the stammering monarch-to-be.

Nine (2009)

Not a fan of the musical but a nice remake of Fellini's 8 1/2. Daniel Day-Lewis is top-notch and Penélope Cruz is downright sexy.

EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS 1 & 2. Two of my favorite music movies of all time. Great rock 'n' roll music.

Re-Watched E&TC a few months back. Classic. Didn't know they did a sequel.

[bigrogie]

Re-Watched E&TC a few months back. Classic. Didn't know they did a sequel

The sequel was done 6 years later. As good. I can send you a copy if you want.

[Secret Executioner]

Shock Waves (1977)

A zombie flick so bad it is great. Read many bad reviews but it's actually very enjoyable (for a good laugh, not if you want a good horror film).

[kungpowmaster]

Oh I love Shock Waves.

Last thing I watched was, "Dark Skies", at the theatre.

I was a decent alien flick. Not bad, not great.

Born a Ninja Die a Ninja.

[Secret Executioner]

As part of a cinema class at the university, I watched:

Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

A nice and funny movie. I'm not too familiar with Keaton's material but it looks quite enjoyable - I prefer some Laurel and Hardy movies but again I'm more familiar with their stuff than with Keaton's.

Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon

Wasn't aware of experimental cinema before and I gotta admit I definitely missed something. That film while it clearly ranks among the weirdest things ever instantly became a big favorite of mine - I'd definitely put it in my top 5 favorite movies ever.

[teako170]

As part of a cinema class at the university, I watched:

Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

A nice and funny movie. I'm not too familiar with Keaton's material but it looks quite enjoyable - I prefer some Laurel and Hardy movies but again I'm more familiar with their stuff than with Keaton's.

Good flick. Poor Buster "busted" his neck pretty bad when he fell from that water tower and was drenched.

Didn't find out about the break until a decade later when he was at the doc for a routine checkup.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

As part of a cinema class at the university, I watched:

Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

A nice and funny movie. I'm not too familiar with Keaton's material but it looks quite enjoyable - I prefer some Laurel and Hardy movies but again I'm more familiar with their stuff than with Keaton's.

Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon

Wasn't aware of experimental cinema before and I gotta admit I definitely missed something. That film while it clearly ranks among the weirdest things ever instantly became a big favorite of mine - I'd definitely put it in my top 5 favorite movies ever.

For avant garde check out the Luis Bunuel collaboration with Salvador Dalí in Un Chien Andalou (1929) and see what you think of that weirdness. There is experimental cinema all through the 1920s though. An impressive set that might interest you (it is expensive) is Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 though after awhile you might find it tedious.

I'm a huge Keaton fan (and Laurel and Hardy, I wish they would release their silent movies together in a collection like they did with the majority of their sound features). They often talk about the big three silent comedians being Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd.* While I'm a big fan of the other two, Keaton is my favorite. His material grew on me. When you see what he did with the camera compared to Chaplin (and avoiding the pathos), the stunts he did and how influential he was it just amazed me. He hurt his career by giving up his independence by working for MGM (though making the great The Cameraman) and coupled with alcoholism and a horrible wife at the time. Luckily he kept working and even made some good sound shorts with Educational and acted through the 60s, but his prime decade is the 1920s. Check out his The Navigator or The General next.

* Occasionally you read about the big four including Harry Langdon, but this ignores how popular Roscoe Arbuckle was until his trial and others including Charlie Chase who remained popular for a longer period of time.

[Secret Executioner]

For avant garde check out the Luis Bunuel collaboration with Salvador Dalí in Un Chien Andalou (1929) and see what you think of that weirdness. There is experimental cinema all through the 1920s though. An impressive set that might interest you (it is expensive) is Unseen Cinema - Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 though after awhile you might find it tedious.

Heard of Luis Bunuel but haven't checked out his material. The idea that he made a movie with Dali who made really bizarre paintings sounds very interesting.

The set looks nice but it's indeed really big and quite expensive. I find it sad that some great cinema releases - movies or sets - seem to always be pretty expensive.

I'm a huge Keaton fan (and Laurel and Hardy, I wish they would release their silent movies together in a collection like they did with the majority of their sound features). They often talk about the big three silent comedians being Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd.* While I'm a big fan of the other two, Keaton is my favorite. His material grew on me. When you see what he did with the camera compared to Chaplin (and avoiding the pathos), the stunts he did and how influential he was it just amazed me. He hurt his career by giving up his independence by working for MGM (though making the great The Cameraman) and coupled with alcoholism and a horrible wife at the time. Luckily he kept working and even made some good sound shorts with Educational and acted through the 60s, but his prime decade is the 1920s. Check out his The Navigator or The General next.

* Occasionally you read about the big four including Harry Langdon, but this ignores how popular Roscoe Arbuckle was until his trial and others including Charlie Chase who remained popular for a longer period of time.

I'm not a big fan of Chaplin's material - except for The Dictator which is a really good film. Keaton's material is indeed quite creative and some of his stunts are really impressive. I must say that when I mentionned Laurel and Hardy I was thinking of the sound movies they made together in the 1930s.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013: Bryan Singer) ***/****

I hate having a cold. Yes it is not the flu, but then I would not be going to the theater and instead suffering in front of the television with hot tea under my nose. But with a cold you feel miserable but you still go to work (your work may not be top quality but you still go.) However, the cold does not affect a theater experience for myself as long as the theater is not overly hot or cold. In fact it helps because in the dark you concentrate on the screen. One hopes for a good film, but one will be satisfied with a decent film.

I was on time for the movie, but I did not need to hurry because we all know there are about 10-15 minutes of trailers. It was a rather empty theater with only two other people besides me. They took my favorite seats so I sat down a couple of rows in the middle muttering obscenities about my stuffed sinuses. I was looking forward to this film since I saw Richard Roeper give it an enthusiastic review and several friends had already seen this and liked it. Plus I tend to like special effect oriented films in the theater. I first had to endure the horror of a One Direction documentary trailer about this boy band who are apparently famous and in love with themselves and each other.

After seeing Warm Bodies a little while ago it is weird seeing Nicholas Hoult (Jack) so soon. Is he on to bigger stardom? Apparently his accent here is real since he is from England. Jack is a peasant young adult who has lost both mother and father and lives with his uncle. Times are tough and he is forced to sell a cart and a horse. The cart gets stolen while he protects the honor of a woman who turns out to be a princess (Eleanor Tomlinson). Then his horse gets traded without his consent for a bag of magic beans somewhat like the story. Jack is not having much luck with life but soon as well all know it is about to change dramatically, especially after he accidently gets one of the beans wet and it takes his house with a runaway princess up to the land of the giants.

The arc of the story is quite predictable with the bad human Roderick played manically by Stanley Tucci (in a Mark Strong role or is Mark Strong normally in a Stanley Tucci role) who wants to rule the world with the help of beans and a magically forged crown which . He is also set to marry the princess much to the chagrin of Jack.

I had fun with the movie. The giants are one-dimensional with no apparent female giants and I am not sure how their world actually works, but they sure are filthy. We are reminded of this when a chef is set to prepare a few humans for food as he picks his nose and eats the booger as well. Apparently there are no intellectually curious giants, but we can’t always ask for that with our adversaries. The CGI is done well and I was impressed by the pacing and effects of the later battle scenes. This is a popcorn film or at least a rainy day film or I am sick and I do not want to be reminded of my cold film.

Some notes: This is way too scary for young kids. There is no special ending after the credits or anything interesting about the credits themselves. I like how when movies do a story within a story they use a less impressive animation technique to show that world like Hellboy II.

[Takuma]

Father’s Day (USA/Canada, 2011) [Yubari Fanta] - 4/5

“Long, long time ago there was a bad, bad man who raped and killed dads…”. New action/revenge/vigilante trash from Troma, nearly hitting the bull’s eye. From relatively good tech credits to (mostly) passable acting and functional screenplay, there’s enough professionalism on display to raise the film far above amateur productions. The soundtrack especially is a fucking blast! This is closer to real grind house than most of the pathetic postmodern jokes that have been flooding the market in the recent years. Where the film stumbles is indeed the unfortunate postmodern moments of “turning it into a joke”, which thankfully are not too numerous. Fans of more serious splatter-action in the heels of Hobo with a Shotgun should be pleased most of the time.

- trailer:

The ABCs of Death (USA, 2012) [Yubari Fanta] – 3/5

26 ways to die by 26 directors. An uneven but entertaining episode film with some bad, many good and a couple of excellent shorts. Timo Tjahjanto’s brilliantly disturbing L is for Libido stands out as the best, followed by Jason Eisener’s twisted Youngbuck and Marcel Sarmiento’s visually mesmerizing Dogfight. Xavier Gens’s XXL is the most brutal of the bunch, while Jake West (Speed), Adam Wingard (Quack) and Jon Schnepp (WTF) deliver utter crap. Japanese madman Yoshihiro Nishimura’s satisfying Zetsumetsu closes the film with enough nazi mutants, penis swords and 9/11 references to make it near unscreenable in half of the world.

another opinion: "Grade Z...thoroughly disgusting and extremely lewd...attacking the United States and capitalism...may be the worst, most perverted movie ever made."

- The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment

[Secret Executioner]

The ABCs of Death sounds like an interesting film.

I have an essay to write for my cinema class on one specific movie; each student chooses his/her film. I just chose mine so I watched it... It's the Laurel & Hardy classic Swiss Miss (1938).

[masterofoneinchpunch]

...I have an essay to write for my cinema class on one specific movie; each student chooses his/her film. I just chose mine so I watched it... It's the Laurel & Hardy classic Swiss Miss (1938).

That's a fun one. I saw it for the first time a few months back. Post the essay here if you want to, I would be interested in reading it. Interesting pick, why that film say over Way Out West or Sons of the Desert?

[Secret Executioner]

That's a fun one. I saw it for the first time a few months back. Post the essay here if you want to, I would be interested in reading it. Interesting pick, why that film say over Way Out West or Sons of the Desert?

The essay is to be about the representation of gender, social class, race or sexuality in movies. I chose this one for several elements:

- the couple at the beginning as they hit each other and turn against Laurel & Hardy

- the famous singer becoming a maid (class alteration)

- the opposition between the composer (a neglecting husband) and Hardy's character (a very innocent figure in love with a married woman) when it comes to the woman

Sadly, I don't think there'll be room for some of the great scenes such as Laurel and the St. Bernard or the bridge scene where they encounter a gorilla while moving a piano. I may try and use the scene with the bubbles coming out of the organ though as they "create" music like the composer is when he plays the organ (in opposition to the singer lowering herself to a maid the modest Laurel & Hardy become "equals" of the famous composer)

And since you mentionned it I must say I love Way Out West. Great movie indeed. Another feature film that I like a lot is Block-Heads.

Regarding Sons of the Desert I have to admit I don't remember much about this one.

BTW,

(one can't discuss Laurel & Hardy without making a reference to their old nemesis James Finlayson)

[Secret Executioner]

Watched some more Laurel & Hardy films last night:

- The Chimp, a quite enjoyable 1932 short (with a very nice 4th wall joke)

- Block-Heads (1938) which I hadn't seen in ages and it's plain hilarious, really one of their best. (the "There's going to be a fight scene" being one of the many great moments from this film)

I think I may change my mind and write an essay on Block-Heads instead of Swiss Miss as it also has very interesting material. Concerning the essay mentionned previously, I'm not sure I'll be able to post it because the teacher asked us to send it by email but also to put it on turnitin.com which apparently checks plagiarism on the Web.

Concerning Sons of the Desert, I think I'll check it out because it looks quite good.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

...I think I may change my mind and write an essay on Block-Heads instead of Swiss Miss as it also has very interesting material. Concerning the essay mentionned previously, I'm not sure I'll be able to post it because the teacher asked us to send it by email but also to put it on turnitin.com which apparently checks plagiarism on the Web.

Concerning Sons of the Desert, I think I'll check it out because it looks quite good.

As long as you post your own material (put your name with the material as well) it should not be an issue. If it worries you then just post the essay (or IM me, but I think several might be interested in reading it here) after your class ends.

RE: Sons of the Desert: since Charley Chase costars in the film check out his 1920s silent material like Mighty Like a Moose. If you are not familiar with Chase he is the most neglected silent comedian who is funny and important. HIs material plays on situational comedy and he was instrumental with Roach Studios in the 1920s. He was usually the second most popular entertainer there -- he was the first between the departure of Harold Lloyd and until the rise of Laurel and Hardy as a team. Chase was instrumental in getting Our Gang together (some controversy about who actually put the team together, but Chase did many of the early direction for the shorts).

Laurel and Hardy: For those who are interested I highly recommend (again) the R1 The Laurel and Hardy Essential Collection which has almost all of their sound features on 10 discs. It is easily worth the 60-80 you will pay for the set if you are into the pair.

[Secret Executioner]

Never heard of Charley Chase but I'll check him out.

Watched a French film called Les 4 saisons d'Espigoule today. The story ? Basically, it's one year (hence the "4 seasons" mentionned in the title) in a small village in the South of France - Espigoule isn't the actual name of the place though.