BuyBust (2018) - Ann Curtis, Brandon Vera

[KUNG FU BOB]

1 hour ago, thekfc said:

I saw this last Sunday night at the NY Asian Film Festival.

I will not give any spoilers but I would give it a much higher rating than the current IMDB rating.

This is the best I have seen Anne Curtis.......oh wait no spoilers.

I will go to see it again when it open in 2 weeks at the AMC theater in Times Square.

Also, I did enjoy some of the Filipino food served after the movie.

Highly recommend!!!!!!

Wow! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. That's pretty high praise.

Wish I could've made it to the festival this year.

10 minutes ago, DiP said:

Hahahaha, typical 😋

Thanks for letting us know. Can't wait to see it now!

Same here.

[KUNG FU BOB]

5 hours ago, robbie said:

i was only replying to comments. All i said was this woman was not very  believable as a fighter. If you get your action stars from romcoms or even pop they're unlikely to be a patch on hwang jang Lee , Tony jaa or Scott Adkins etc. And this guy ain't as good at action scenes as Jesse v Johnson or Isaac Florentine. I can tell that from trailer alone.

Here's a review  from schoolofrejects site that says action dull repetative and weak looking. So there are some people out there at least who see things the way i see .   

https://filmschoolrejects.com/buybust-review/

The fights here won’t impress in their choreography, but worse, they disappoint in their execution. The swings are slow, the contact is inconsistent, and the reactions are amateurish.

Speaking of "dull repetitive"... now you've stated the same viewpoint yet again after just being asked to stop doing that.

[laagi]

20 hours ago, DiP said:

Hahahaha, typical 😋

Thanks for letting us know. Can't wait to see it now!

Oh the sweet memories... Philippines and food. Gotta love it

On another note I'm really super excited to watch this. Although, I'll probably have to wait for a home release. No love for asian cinema here

[whitesnake]

Screenanarchy.com has a review of Buybust, viewed at Fantasia 2018, and includes positives and negatives.  The review is here -  https://screenanarchy.com/2018/08/fantasia-2018-review-buybust-bust-is-one-word-for-it.html

Excerpt - "It brings me no joy to report this but Buybust is more bust than buy.  Before we dig at the big issue Buybust has let's accentuate the positives.  To its credit once the action gets going in Buybust it is pretty much non stop from there on in."

[whitesnake]

Well Go USA will give Buybust a North American Blu-ray and DVD release on October 16, 2018.  https://videoeta.com/items/205302-buybust

[mpm74]

New clip from the film: 

 

 

 

[thekfc]

Pre-order is now up at US various retailers.

My order have already been sent.

[Drunken Monk]

I don't usually buy new releases since they typically drop in price in a month or two, but due to the stellar reviews, I'm pre-ordering this one.

[DiP]

Same. Although there have been negative ones as well, that won't bother me. A crimer/actioner/thriller directed by Erik Matti always gets me interested.

[mark187]

On 9/5/2018 at 7:15 AM, thekfc said:

Pre-order is now up at US various retailers.

My order have already been sent.

What do you mean your order has been sent? Shipped out this early?!

[thekfc]

2 hours ago, mark187 said:

What do you mean your order has been sent? Shipped out this early?!

Sorry for the confusion.

It means that I have already placed my order.

[laagi]

After the initial excitment I gotta admit after watching it there's a sense of disappointment. It wouldn't do the movie justice to call it bad though. My main issue with it is also its supposed biggest selling point "action". The setting would be so great to really give this movie the gritty and brutal action I was expecting. Unfortunately besides a few mediocre fight scenes many of them are very sloppy and amateurishly staged.

Especially Anne Curtis which I don't blame... She's cleary not a Martial Artist BUT if you let her do the action at least make sure it looks alright. Some of it is just laughably bad. The highlight for me is clearly the setting in the slums of manila, the sheer endless hordes of enemies (casualties) who got nothing to lose and Brandon Vera whos skills are clearly shown.

Also if you're looking for a "political message" regarding the ongoing Drug War by the Duterte government you won't find it here. There is a long and somehow odd conversation at the end which just barely touches the subject. But hey if you're watching a movie like this you probably won't care. Could have been great but with what it is I would rate it just above average.

[mark187]

Yeah I watched it last night and it was a chaotic bore once the action got going. It looks good with all the neon lights, Anne Curtis is a fine actress but the action was messy and sloppy. No real choreography to speak of, the sound effects of the fighting were weak as well as the editing/camera work. Just watch The Raid again, this movie was really boring and just not good

[Drunken Monk]

I haven't seen the film but I have a question: are we the martial art's genre's worst critics? By that I mean are we so spoiled for choice by what we watch that when it comes to something less than amazing, we're quick to condemn it? I wonder that sometimes.

Are we too picky because we have seen so many good fights/action films?

Again, I haven't seen this film. It could be bloody awful. The juxtaposition between critic's responses and our members' response just made me think.

[Drunken Monk]

I say this with no exaggeration, Buybust is by far the worst film I’ve seen this year. We’ll Go USA should be ashamed of putting their name on something so awful.

This is bad filmmaking. The direction lacks in every department, the actors aren’t convincing and the action APPALLING. Slow, mundane and without force, every punch looks like a five year old threw it. 

The chief culprit is this film’s sound. It is the worst I have ever heard. In some fights (the rooftop one especially), they hit each other in utter silence. I don’t know if they were going for realism or what but it just simply does not work. In fact it takes the film down even more notches.

Save your money. It says something when the best thing about a film is the Triple Threat trailer that precedes it.

In fact, if a forum regular (in the US) really, really wants to see this, send me a PM. I’ll glad send you my copy free of charge.

[ShaOW!linDude]

5 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

 

46 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

I say this with no exaggeration, Buybust is by far the worst film I’ve seen this year. 

...the action APPALLING. Slow, mundane and without force, every punch looks like a five year old threw it. 

In some fights (the rooftop one especially), they hit each other in utter silence.

Save your money. It says something when the best thing about a film is the Triple Threat trailer that precedes it.

...are we so spoiled for choice by what we watch that when it comes to something less than amazing, we're quick to condemn it? I wonder that sometimes.

Are we too picky because we have seen so many good fights/action films?

I love the dichotomy here. I do believe you answered your own question. 

I'm so glad I pegged this early on and didn't waste my time or money on it. Go me!

[laagi]

14 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

I haven't seen the film but I have a question: are we the martial art's genre's worst critics? By that I mean are we so spoiled for choice by what we watch that when it comes to something less than amazing, we're quick to condemn it? I wonder that sometimes.

Are we too picky because we have seen so many good fights/action films?

Again, I haven't seen this film. It could be bloody awful. The juxtaposition between critic's responses and our members' response just made me think.

While you did provide your own answer only a few hours later in regards to this movie particularly... I do agree with your statement. One has to be careful not to expect too much or make comparsiments to the greats of the genre. Otherwise you tend to spoil the entertainment the vast majority of these movies provide.

Probably in this particular instance I simply had higher expectations, not only after watching the promising trailer, behind the scenes footage (Anne Curtis training) but also with the name of Erik Matti attached to it. I salute him regardless since he seems one of the few people to push the Modern Action genre in the Philippines. All the other directors seems to focus on love and horror stories only. If you haven't already, check out "On the Job" instead. It's a great movie at least IMHO.

[Drunken Monk]

The irony of my consecutive posts is not lost on me, haha. I feel silly asking a question like that and then pooping all over the film this thread is about.

You won't see me type this often but Robbie was right.

 

[DiP]

Guess I'm one of few in the minority...

I thought the movie as an Eric Matti (and overall standalone) movie was something different visually and artistically. As a filmmaker, Matti has been sharpening his craft over the years and projects it on the screen tremendously unlike he has previously so he knows what he wants and how to do it. The story might be simple (no, it's not a straight rip-off of The Raid like many are claiming it to be) yet Matti is able to put layers of every key character in detail to understand and emphasize with them as the movie progresses. Matti is also able to inject some real sense of reality in there that is actually common in the PI. Even the subplots of

Spoiler

the poor innocent neighbors caught in the middle of the conflict, as well as the bigger picture behind all the bust(s) (maybe a sequel is coming in the near future that will conclude all that?)

gives you that sense that correlates to daily life in the country. And Matti, like a great director should do, also pushes his actors to their limits and redefines them in a way that they otherwise could not reach in other directors' hands. This is the first time I've seen Ann Curtis in anything and she delivered. And this is the first time I've seen Brandon Vera (in his movie debut, mind you) in a movie, and didn't expect him to be good at all acting-wise but he delivered. There's a bunch of unknowns in there as well that I haven't seen before (the actors playing Chongki, Biggie Chen, the other cops etc) and they delivered too. Effort, knowledge, imagination, and skills are the key words. Matti knows and does just that in that regard.

So what about the action? Before I watched the whole movie I only watched the action scenes and thought it's a mixed bag at first. Yeah, it was something I wasn't accustomed to because all we expect too much nowadays is grittiness, speed, fanciness and properness in fight scenes like we always have been since the glory days of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung etc. However, after repeatedly watching them all over again I finally understand Matti's approach to the action scenes and that made me appreciate things more. Here's the thing, filmmaking is an art form and art should be as expressive and free as possible and not restricted. When we watch and like certain movies, the only thing we think of is that we want that certain satisfaction we get from these movies that we easily forget that filmmaking doesn't need to be like this in every movie. Matti wanted as much realism as possible in execution. What does he do? He minimalizes the action performances to give the action a feel that isn't over-the-top nor overdone, hence the slow pace and "sloppiness". Matti wants sound for the action to be accurate to how things really are in real fights? What does he do? He tones the sound down so that it doesn't make the hits oversaturated. Also, Matti bravely touches on stamina with these fight scenes which further adds to the realism unlike what I've seen previously, where it's done in unconvincing ways that are still forgivable to viewers because of the fight choreography compensating for it by being great. This is something of an experiment and a daring move which has gotten strong negative reactions already, but regardless I think this is a new achievement in action film-making so Matti deserves credit. Is this style of choreography satisfying? After having watched the action, I still feel there could be improvement such as the camerawork. It's good in some scenes and odd (an artistic choice?) in others, as well as more fluidity in the editing (which still isn't as bad as I thought it would be). That being said, the highlights for me was the roof-top/below level fight scene, the shoot-outs, and the motorcycle fight scene.

Overall, it's a good movie and a worthy addition in Matti's filmography, while I think the action was different and appreciative for what it sets out do achieve. I will watch this again.

[DragonClaws]

On 10/16/2018 at 9:01 PM, Drunken Monk said:

I haven't seen the film but I have a question: are we the martial art's genre's worst critics? By that I mean are we so spoiled for choice by what we watch that when it comes to something less than amazing, we're quick to condemn it? I wonder that sometimes.

 

I think this certianly plays a big part in our views/opinions, I'm not as easily impressed now, as I was during my younger year's as a fan. Just by the sheer volume of films I've watched, not just MA cinema either. We also have a lot more high quality action based T.V shows. It's impossible not to become jaded to a point.

That said, if a film is really bad, its useally just really bad.and not down to the fact you are hard to impress.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Hmmm... I bought this when it came out, but have been so busy I still haven't had a chance to watch it. My excitement to view it has waned considerably though as I hear so many negative reviews coming in. And I was not nearly as impressed with ON THE JOB as most people. I thought it was okay, but nothing special.

[Frank Bolte]

now also on netflix

[ShaOW!linDude]

On 11/15/2018 at 9:39 PM, Frank Bolte said:

now also on netflix

Still not gonna watch it, but at least some of the more curious of us won't have to drop hard-earned $ on it if they choose to check it out.

[whitesnake]

Interview with Erik Matti on BuyBust - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/erik-matti-interview-how-buybust-is-a-critique-dutertes-drug-war-1168917

Excerpts - "Filipino filmmaker Erik Matti was just starting production on his next, long-planned crime movie [BuyBust] when Rodrigo Duterte, incoming president of the Philippines, began his chaotic and brutal war on drugs.  Matti had won acclaim at home and abroad with taunt, street-smart crime thrillers... With his latest project, what would become BuyBust, Matti intended to make his first full-scale action epic, building a story around Philippine Drug Enforcement Agents, who are forced to fight for survival after a bust goes wrong in a Manila slum.  But when Duterte's new regime came into power in mid-2016 and began dispatching Filipino police on wave after wave of real-life deadly drug raids - with the president also gleefully urging ordinary citizens to take up arms and execute drug users freely - Matti says he knew his film would have to change to encompass the country's new social reality... We got about one-fourth of the way into production when the new [Duterte government] came in and brought in this really strong war on drugs.  From then on, we felt it was our responsibility as filmmakers to make the film aware of what's going on in the country, and not just be in a bubble.  I couldn't just have a devil may care attitude about this.  We were very conscious to do the film in relation to what's happening in the relevant times of The Philippines."

"We have Filipino martial arts, but what I did is looked at a lot of YouTube videos of people actually brawling in the Philippines.  And what I took from that is that Filipino fighting is dirty, it's gritty and it's brutal - it's about survival at all costs.  That's what I wanted."

[JackieRome]

I tried to see it driven by some positive comments and for my appreciation of the work of gareth evans, but I had to interrupt the vision after the first hour or so because it all seemed trivial, everything had already been seen and above all I didn't like the fights. Little contact, many hands covered by the body, too dark, the protagonist (but also the others) are slow. stuff like Universal soldier regeneration is light years ahead...