Member Sifu Posted November 15, 2007 Member Share Posted November 15, 2007 Alot of people find Stephen Chow's movies to be obnoxious or even overly juvenile. But even though I don't like to go this deep into it, his tyle is has a name, "Mo lei tau". Wikipedia's definition for it being, " It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the complex interplay of cultural subtleties significant in Hong Kong...........Regarded as an integral part of Hong Kong's popular culture, it is considered by some as being unique and untranslatable." What's funny is that I really don't think that's true, I like his humor, especially if you know alot about HK cinema. For example, there are several mentions or eluding to Bruce Lee movements or gestures in Legend of the Dragon, King of Beggars, and most famously, Shaolin Soccer. Do you like his humor is my question I guess? Or which is your favorite? My favorite of his movies would probably be King of Beggars because of it's great over-exaggeration of Wire-fu action, and especially it's spoofing of olympics in the Kung Fu Scholar tournaments. I also greatly enjoyed Shaolin Soccer, Legend of the Dragon and God of Cookery. The best part of these being made to spoof of a sport combined with Kung Fu; Legend of the Dragon = Snooker, God of Cookery = You can guess it!, and Shaolin Soccer = Do I really need to say it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest will91XingYu Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I have only really seen Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. Andi really enjoyed them both. I love his comedy! The bit with the knives in Kung fu Hustle had me laughing so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest froffeecoffee Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 So far I've only seen Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, and God of Cookery and I enjoyed to immensely. I've read about his humor being lost on Western audiences, just like some of our American comedies are lost on Eastern audiences. As funny as the films are that I've seen, I'm sure I'm missing out on the verbal jokes that Asian audiences would find hilarious, but are lost on me. It's just a cultural thing, just like any foreign audience who don't find the humor in verbal comedy, you have to know language and culture to understand meaning. But Chow is still funny to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Milkyway Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I liked him in Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, Fight Back To School 1-2 and When Fortune Smiles (he was the only good thing in that movie, rest were crap). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Endsang Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I've only seen Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle and King of Beggars so far. (Oh, and THE scene from God of Cookery on youtube ) Which Chow movie would you suggest next? Preferably with some kung fu and humour digestable for a westerner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greenfan Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 If you want fisticuffs and laughs then Fist of Fury 1991 is a good film and it's got action choreo by Corey Yuen Kwai. Stephen Chow's best film, in my opinion, is King of Comedy. A very, very funny film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I love Stephen Chow's comedy, but his movies can become too repetitious. He starts out rich, turns poor, then has to fight his way back to the top. That happens in like 10 of his movies. My favorite chow movies are Shaolin Soccer, Fight Back to School 1 and 2, and All for the Winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 15, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 15, 2007 I love Stephen Chow's comedy, but his movies can become too repetitious. He starts out rich, turns poor, then has to fight his way back to the top. That happens in like 10 of his movies. My favorite chow movies are Shaolin Soccer, Fight Back to School 1 and 2, and All for the Winner. Yeah, I guess I understand what you're saying. But in reality that formula has worked everytime! I mean when you look, only two other people have really made such an impact on HK cinema in the past 30 years! Bruce and Jackie, Stephen Chow hit big with Shaolin Soccer which grossed 60 mil! (which reigned it the highest grossing in HK history) And then he topped his previous highest box office record with Kung Fu Hustle! He holds both the #1, and #2 spots. Now I know not to ever base my opinions on revenues (I mean come on! Look at Spiderman 3), but that's sayin something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fabhui Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I think the man is superb and have got everything by him that has been put out on DVD and some other movies that are only available on VHS and VCD. I think my fave movie of his at the moment is probably Love on Delivery or Legend of the Dragon. I've just got through watching the TVB series 'Justice of Life' which I really enjoyed. Although Chow Sing Chi is a co-star in the show he gets a lot of screen time and really shines! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Good call fabhui. I forgot about Love on Delivery. The training scenes are hilarious, the fights are good (especially the scene where Ben Lam takes on like 5 guys), and I loved the Garfield scene. And then you have the incredibly hot Christy Chung. Great movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theportlykicker Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I remember I once showed my friend (who's only seen a handful of HK films in his life) Shaolin Soccer, and he loved it. At one point he said to me, "It's like a Mel Brooks film". Although I don't necessarily agree with the comparison, I think that shows that Chow's humour DOES crossover to westerners pretty damn well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Yeah everybody I have shown Shaolin Soccer to loved it. definitely my favorite Stephen Chow movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 16, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 16, 2007 Yeah everybody I have shown Shaolin Soccer to loved it. definitely my favorite Stephen Chow movie. I agree that it was very good as well, not his best in my humble opinion. For me, Kung Fu Hustle put it over the top, maybe a little too far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morgoth Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 I agree that it was very good as well, not his best in my humble opinion. For me, Kung Fu Hustle put it over the top, maybe a little too far! I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I didn't care for Kung Fu Hustle too much. I laughed out loud 3, maybe 4 times, there are a couple of good fights and some good CGI at the end, but I didn't get anything else out of it. I guess I am just hard to please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tosh Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 :DI like that overly juvenile humor, I showed his last couple films and God of Cookery to a bunch of friends and each time there wasn't a dry eye in the house everyone was laughing so hard by the end, though I agree there is cultural moments that can go over peoples heads(even ours;)) I believe humor is universal, and he's one funny MF'er. I've read he was a big fan of Jim Carry, even going as far as dubbing himself the Jim Carry of Hong Kong, you can really see his impersonation of him as the Monkey King in a Chinese Odyssey. I need to rent some of his older movies, I'm toggling between Shaw and Samurai at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheGrimReaper Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 So far I've seen only Shaolin Soccer & Kung Fu Hustle, and I found these movies quite funny and all jokes were pretty close to our nation humour too. I found it very accesible and the scene in Shaolin Soccer with the dancing routine and the singing left me crying of laughter... It reminds me of the old movies by Monty Python's Life of Brian and The Holy Grail... I'm not sure if there is a lot of similatiries between them, but nevertheless it is a good example of HK comedy... Where I come from there is not much Asian movies overall, therefore I had to get them via Internet, which is sad, because thus the Asian movies fans suffered from not getting their hands on such movies... Recently only the SPL & Seven Swords were released here and that's it, no Shaw Brothers, no Golden Harvest classics, forget about early Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao movies - no chanse, I hope that the situation will improve over the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 16, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 16, 2007 So far I've seen only Shaolin Soccer & Kung Fu Hustle, and I found these movies quite funny and all jokes were pretty close to our nation humour too. I'm not trying to self-promote my Veoh channel, but if any of you, including you will91, haven't seen King of Beggars, WHATCH THESE SCENES! You won't regret it (i hope). Hilarious stuff, The Kung Fu Scholar Tournament: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1458590Yq6w2jKS?c=MonkeyKingsMovies http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1458624CAhxDkww?c=MonkeyKingsMovies The Final Dragon Stance: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1459770rNez449F?c=MonkeyKingsMovies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fabhui Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Recently gave From Beijing With Love another viewing and had forgotten how funny that movie was. Well worth adding to your 'to see' list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member 5 Element Boxer Posted November 16, 2007 Member Share Posted November 16, 2007 I don't know about his other films, but The Flirting Scholar, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle remain some of my favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 17, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 17, 2007 Seems like most of you have seen the more recent stuff. In my opinion, the majority of the best stuff (even though Shaolin Soccer was amazing!) was pre-God of Cookery. A Chinese Odyssey I and II were excellent as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iron_Jinon Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Forbidden City Cop is only I have seen by him and it was quite good,some excellent fights are crazy comedy which went over the top at places.Bought kung-fu hustle well over a year ago and still remains unwatched like about 70 other movies too;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 17, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 17, 2007 Bought kung-fu hustle well over a year ago and still remains unwatched like about 70 other movies too Well you definately should sometime, great stuff! Not his best, but probably one of the greatest. The effects alone are eye-popping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iron_Jinon Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 watched it and have not laughed this much for long time...I fell from chair at the moment when fat lady was doing bruce lee gestures in car of axe gang boss.some excellent fights too.need to check out more his movies:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted November 18, 2007 Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 Stephen Chow is a great martial artist and yeah, he may be the master of the "mo lei tau" style of comedy, but I sure as hell love it. One of my favorites is Fist of Fury 1991. Corey Yuen choreographed the action scenes and what is interesting is that he choreographed two films at the same time, this and American Shaolin. If you see both films, you will notice that some of the same moves are used in the film, excpet this being a Stephen Chow movie, the moves are sometimes exaggerated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Sifu Posted November 18, 2007 Author Member Share Posted November 18, 2007 Stephen Chow is a great martial artist and yeah, he may be the master of the "mo lei tau" style of comedy, but I sure as hell love it. One of my favorites is Fist of Fury 1991. Corey Yuen choreographed the action scenes and what is interesting is that he choreographed two films at the same time, this and American Shaolin. If you see both films, you will notice that some of the same moves are used in the film, excpet this being a Stephen Chow movie, the moves are sometimes exaggerated. Yeah, that was excellent. If you look he's parodied Bruce many, many times in his flicks Especially that one, along with Legend of the Dragon as well, his name was Siu Lung! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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