Trigger

I don't know how good an idea this is, but I'm gonna take requests for reviews of asian cinema DVDs. Basically the reason is that I have so many unwatched DVDs that I can't pick one to watch. I figure if you pick one for me, It'll motivate me to pop it in and watch it and then post my thoughts on it. Just post one film each... if I've seen it already you can post another - if I watch the one you suggest and post my thoughts on it - you can post another request. If I don't have the film or if I don't feel like watching it you can post another selection. As for what I have - I've posted alot of my orders asking for opinions and I pretty much have so many DVDs, I'm bound to have what you're asking about. Anyway - we'll see how well this works and if I just happen to watch one on my own I might just post a review for it in another thread. I'm a fan of pretty much all genres too - so fire away.

gabegarwick

Hey!
I ran across this today...
Hypnosis -Japanese film (released R1 as The Hypnotist)
Have you seen this? It sounds like it could be interesting...
http://www.asiandvdguide.com/reviews/hypnosis2.html

Thanks,
Gabe

Trigger

Nah... I never got that one. I've seen it around and had it in my cart a few times, but never bought. I've read a few reviews that say it's lame so I never bothered. Perhaps there's another one you want me to watch instead? I should've called this thread - "Tell me what to watch cuz I have too many DVDs. "

Beeeil

Trigger,

I don't think this movie appeared in your list of 60 DVDs ordered recently, but lately I watched a romance movie called "Lost and Found" with Kelly Chen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. The cover was cheesy and not much to look at, but boy it instantly became my favorite romance movie and one of my favorite movies of all genres. If you do have it, or planing on placing another order, I highly recommended it.

Many films portrayed love stories well. IMHO the beauty of this story is the numerous small characters surrounding the 3 main characters - it was simply magical all the way to the very end.

Beeeil

Trigger

Yeah - I reviewed it here

Beeeil

Wow, just a few days ago, too! How could I have missed it.. Excellent review.

I agree with the disc was cheaply made with burn-in subtitles and no menu, etc. Personally I would give it an 8/10 just because there is so much more than just a plain love story. The "rest" of the characters made it so special, my favorite of which being the child prodigy.

Beeeil

gabegarwick

You know, admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards recovery. {just kidding}

Okay, How about a review of Conman in Tokyo? Or any of the Conman/Conmen movies for that matter? Which ones are recommended first? Which ones can I watch that are not part of a series?

Thanks,
Gabe

gabegarwick

Heroic Trio and/or The Executioners?

Thanks,
Gabe

(Michelle Yeoh is my girlfriend you know...)

Trigger

Ok - I'll start with the Conmen series... I've watched Heroic Trio and I wasn't impressed at all - the ending made up for it though. I have Executioners, but haven't felt like watching it yet... I'll start with Conmen though.

roseart

I would not mind your opinions on:

Jakarata
Beat

Thanks

Trigger

I don't have Jakarta or Beat...

I watched The Conman with Andy Lau last night. It's pretty decent. It's about conmen obviously. It starts out really heavy and then kinda settles down after a bit into a lighter toned film. It's about Andy Lau being a conman and a womanizer and just a bad guy. Then one of his gambling cons goes bad and he gets beaten and thrown in jail. The beating caused him to lose his ability to see color (which they didn't really explore as quite the weakness they built it up to be). He's released from jail after 5 years a gentler man with alot more good in his heart. He's still a conman though and quickly gets back into it, but only for good and so he can reunite with his wife and child.

Andy Lau is actually likable in this film - normally I don't much care for his characters, but once he is released from jail he's quite likable. The supporting cast is decent and there's a few HK cinema "in-jokes". The plot has some weak moments, but it is a Wong Jing movie - so what do you expect. It's not a comedy, but there's a good balance of comedy in it along with drama. The cons are interesting and clever enough. The ending was forgettable.

Overall it's a decent flick - I'll have to watch the next 2 films to see if this story is to stand on its own or if it's better as part of a larger arc in these people's lives. I guess I'd give it a but only 6.6/10.

The DVD is Mei Ah and it's among their better produced DVDs. It was kinda skipping a little on my player, but I think it's just cuz my player needs to be cleaned. It's still a nice DVD with 5.1 and 2.0 sound in cantonese and mandarin and the video quality is nice as well.

So - feel free to give me another one to watch... maybe if I get bored sometime - I'll post a list of the films I have... maybe even mark the ones I haven't watched.

rkndkn

This film goes under several titles, including "The Hypnotist" and "Saimin" (not the noodles). I have the Region 1 version. It had a really creepy atmosphere in the beginning that I shut it off the first time I tried to watch it! Another day, I did manage to watch the whole thing. Kind of interesting, although it takes a rather campy turn in the last quarter. (I have it on my trade list. )

Trigger

Ok - when I took out my DVD of the Conman I noticed the play surface was all cloudy... it had a haze over some of the surface. That's why it was skipping I guess. I got through the whole thing, so I don't think I'll bother sending it back. Perhaps I'll check it in my other player to see if it will work better because the one I had it in does need to be cleaned. Anyway - sometimes Mei Ah discs come like this. I've had problems with a few of them - sometimes the Universe discs come with little pits in the surface which cause problems too. Never had a problem with a Delta Mac, Spectrum, Media Asia, or China Star though. This review might give away a tiny spoiler, but nothing that will spoil the plot - just a funny moment... if you're the type that won't think it's as funny if you know it's coming, then just skip ahead to the paragraph after the next one.

So I watched Conmen in Vegas just now and I liked it. This one is more like a classic Wong Jing movie - it's silly and there are a few good movie parodies in it... they even parody The Ring and it made me laugh out loud. I would suggest seeing The Ring before watching this film... sorry if that gives away a surprise... Anyway - There are other great moments in this one too that make it a fun time. The story seemed to trail off alot like they were working without a script or something, but they managed to tie everything up in the end.

Movies make their own set of rules... rules for characters and rules for plot development and rules for location and gravity or whatever... Like in the Matrix, it created this world and did a pretty good job of sticking to the rules they created. It's not the real world that we live in, but we were able to follow along and know what was going on... had they changed the rules, it would've been too confusing and the movie wouldn't have been as good. In Hong Kong cinema - sometimes they will change the rules of characters or situations. There's nothing really wrong with that except that it makes these films difficult to believe or follow or what have you. With this film - being that it is a sequel, the first film set up some rules for the characters... they didn't really follow these rules however... they did to the extent that they aknowleged the rules existed only to change them so they could make a movie that was more fun to watch.

So right from the beginning they throw out all the storyline that had happened in the previous film so they could start fresh. Not a bad way to go considering the result, but fans of the first movie might be disappointed if they were expecting to see certain things resolved. It's not so much a continuation as it is a new film based on the same basic characters. This still has Andy Lau in it (many other faces return as well) and he is just as charming... I like him better now that I've watched these two films. It's still about being a conman, but this one doesn't have any of the serious undertones that the first one did.

This time Andy Lau (King) must travel to Las Vegas so he can capture a wanted criminal, retrieve some stolen money and pay off some bad guys who are holding his pal captive. The cons in this film are even more elaborate and probably a bit too much for their own good as the audience might have trouble believing they could possibly work in real life... but that's not what these films are about. This isn't really an updated God of Gamblers so much but it's in the same vein. I'd venture to say that it shares alot in common with Tricky Master.

There's plenty of Wong Jing slapstick and movie references in this film and the comedy manages to be quite funny. Near the end it gets too silly for its own good, but overall I'd have to give this one a as well and score it a 7/10 cuz I liked it more than the first one. I started watching the third one and it looks like it's gonna be good too... Andy Lau isn't in it though... I'll let you know.

Trigger

Conmen In Tokyo - more Wong Jing silly. The film has very little cohesion. This film doesn't have Andy Lau. Basically only one actor returns in this one and he isn't even playing the same part as in the previous two. It's a totally different movie rather than a sequel. Anyway - this one has lots of kung-fu (some pretty decent stuff too), lots of gambling and lots of silly moments. This movie is still pretty good, but it's nothing like the others and stands on its own.

I have to mention the title sequence - it was very well done. This movie had quite a bigger budget than the first 2 - there was alot of CGI in it. I don't know what to say other than it was well made.

No sense in me telling you what it's about... gambling in Tokyo with some drama and action and kung fu and a guy who can throw playing cards with deadly accuracy. I found it enjoyable for the most part. As a whole, the movie is a mess... as individual parts, each part of the movie is good. Well for a wacky Wong Jing film with a budget - I guess I give this a 6/10 (overall - 4/10, scene by scene - 8/10)... I give it a reluctant - I'll keep it in my library cuz there's alot of great stuff in here.

Trigger

Ok - I need another suggestion for tonight.

hehe - nice title change Benedict

Beeeil

Trigger, you need to update your DVDTracker page so we know what movies you have!

Beeeil

Trigger

I've been using DVDafficianado, but I haven't fully updated it yet either. There's alot of DVDs not even in their database. Here's an incomplete list... most of what I have from DDDHouse and Pokerindustries and Hivizone and etc. is here. So maybe now you see my problem.

Story of Ricky
Fong Sai Yuk
Butterfly & Sword
Fong Sai Yuk II
Once upon a time in China II
Once upon a time in China III
Blade, The - VCD
Peking Opera Blues
My Father Is A Hero
Swordsman
Accidental Spy
The Shiri (DTS Version)
City Hunter
Jacky Chan My Stunts
Policy Story
Policy Story II
Wheels on Meals (MegaStar Version)
Tai Chi Master, The
Last hero in China
Gen-Y Cops
Duel, The
Gen-X cops
God of cookery, The
Man Called Hero, A
Moon Warriors, The
Purple storm
Stormriders, The
Zu : Warriors from the magic mountain
Sex and Zen
Time And Tide
Tokyo Raiders (DTS Version)
Drunken Master II
Duel To The Death
Drunken Master III
From Beijing With Love
Chinese odysseyI Pandora Box, A
Chinese odyssey II Cinderella, A
Fight back to school
Fight back to school II
Fight back to schooll III
Flirtong Scholar
Forbidden City Cop
God of gamblersIII back to Shanghai
Justice my foot
King of comedy
Royal Tramp (MegaStar)
Royal Tramp II (MegaStar)
Tricky master, The
City on Fire (MegaStar Version)
God of Gamblers
God of Gamblers Return
Hitman
Kung Fu Colt Master, The
China Strike Force (DTS)
A. D. 2000
Beastcops
Executioners
Magnificent butcher
Armour of god
Electrical Girl
Visible Secret
God of Gamblers II
All,s Well End's Well
Curry and Pepper
Final Justice
First of fury 1991
Hail The Judge
King of Beggars
Legend of the Dragon
Love on Delivery
Magnificent Scoundrels
Sixty Million Dollar Man
Tricky Brains
When Fortune Smiles
Bio Zombie
Blackship Afair, The
Once Upon A Time In China & America
Chinese Feast, The
Fist Of Legend
Fist Power
Mahjong Dragon
Martial Angels
Replicant
Love On A Diet
Isle, The
Brother
Fighting For Love
Attack The Gas Station
All's Well End's Well 97
Faithfully Yours
Lawyer, Lawyer
Look Out Officer
Love is Love
Lucky Guy, The
Lung Fung Restaurant
Unmatchable Match
My Hero
Feel 100%
In the Mood for Love
Body Weapon
Shaolin Soccer
Para Para Sakura
Ultimatum
Heroes In Love
F***/Off
Juvenile
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father
Hit Team
Lifeline
Needing You
Mission, The
Legend of the Wolf
Hero Never Die, A
Comrades-Almost a love story
Big Bullet
Bakery Amour
For Badboys Only
Future Cop
Downtown Torpedoes
Skyline Crulsers
Double Tap (DTS Version)
Chivalrous Legend
Fighting To Learn
All Man Are Brothers-Blood of The Laopard
Anna Magdalena
Flying Dagger
And I Hate You So...
Lavender
Lost And Found
Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone
Option Zero
Full Alert
First Option (MegaStar Version)
Thunderbolt - VCD
Sakuya-Slayer Of Demons
My School Mate, The Barbarian
Battle Royale
Full Time Killer
Audition
Wicked Ghost, A
Wicked ghost II The Fear, A
Bio Cops
As Tears Go By
Tell Me Something
Top Bet, The
Taxi 2 (DTS Version)
Taxi
Ring Virus, The
Evil Dead Trap 2
Ditto
C'est La Vie, Mon Cherie
Days Of Being Dumb
Fallen Angels
Sword Stained With Royal Blood
Sex And Zen II (PAL / Region 2 only)
Bare-Footed Kid, The
Heroes Among Heroes
Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star
Kingdom, The (Complete 3-Disc Set)
King of Beggars (MegaStar)
Too Many Ways To Be No. 1
Tom, Dick & Hairy
Twelve Nights
Who's The Woman, Who's The Man
Your Place or Mine
Legend of the Flying Swordsman
He's A Woman, She's A Man
I Am Your Birthday Cake
Fly Me To Polaris
Full Throttle
Fighter's Blues, A (DTS Version)
Dragon Forever
City of Glass
Clean My Name, Mr Corner
Comeuppance
Conman In Tokyo
Conman, The
Conmen in Vegas, The
Cop On A Mission
Tempting Heart
Summer Holiday
Help!!!
Juliet in Love
Expect The Unexpected
Legend of speed
Longest Nite, The
Longest Summer, The
Moonnight Express
New Legend of Shaolin, The
Old One Dies, The
Only Fool Fall in Love
Savior of the Soul
Spacked Out
Suzhou
Task Force
Rules of the Game
There is a Secret in my Soup
Till Death Do Us Part
Tri Star
True Love
Moment of Romance, A
Victim
Walk In
War Named Desire, A
Wu Yen
Legend Of Zu, The
Sex Phone Girl
Sound From The Dark
Prison On Fire
Il Mare
Secret Tears
Dragon Heat
Ring
Ring 2

Rocky_Raccoon

Ok here's a olive branch from the troll.

Have you watched Jiang Hu yet? Been meaning to get that one for awhile but for some reason I keep putting it back. Let me know if I should buy that sucker in my next order.

Also curious to see what you think of Tempting Heart. This one really surprised me. One of the best romantic drama/comedies I have seen in a long time from any country. Sylvia Chang can do no wrong in my book. If you haven't watched that one yet do it now so we can fight about it LOL.

Clint

jtkv

Please review the Fight Back To School series...


J.T.

p1forest

I've either seen most of the ones on your list, or am ambivalent about seeing them because I've never heard of them. Let's see, how about:

A Moment of Romance - I just saw Needing You, and was wondering about the multiple references to AMOR. Made me think that this movie must have been popular.

Love on a Diet - Have it, but haven't gotten around to seeing it myself.

Lung Fung Restauraunt - Have it, but won't play on either of my DVD Players

These sound familiar, so I'm adding them because maybe I've heard they're good:

Visible Secret
Downtown Torpedoes
Moon Warriors
Lavender
As Tears Go By
Days of Being Dumb

You have probably reviewed some of these already. It'd be great if you could do these reviews by, say, 5 pm tonight? Thanks.

Yellow Hammer

A Moment of Romance wasn't necessarily that popular box-office wise, but it is one of the better HK movies of all time and did nominated for numerous awards. Johnnie To was the director for this movie as well, which is why the liberal references to this movie was made. The references are funny because Andy Lau's character in both movies are more or less polar opposites personality wise.

Beeeil

Trigger, that's quite a list!! I've been using DVD Profiler to track my DVDs, and their database is surprisingly complete even on foreign titles. Even for the ones they don't have, you can contribute the info so it's available for the next person who buys the DVD. I am sure even with DVD Profiler you're going to find a lot of titles on your list that's not yet in their db. Entering DVDs (for titles that are already in the db) is simply entering the UPC code from the back of the jacket.

One thing people don't like about DVD Profiler is that it's a fat client that runs on Windows machine. I find it very powerful and quick to use. It also allows you to upload the collection so others can view it.

I am not saying that you should switch and re-enter all your titles again in yet another system, but it's something you should consider so you don't order dupe discs by accident.

Beeeil

Beeeil

I am interested in what you think of the following titles. Please add them to the queue!

• Fong Sai Yuk
• The Shiri (DTS Version)
• Zu : Warriors from the magic mountain
• Tokyo Raiders (DTS Version)
• Electrical Girl
• Visible Secret
• Love On A Diet
• In the Mood for Love
• Comrades-Almost a love story

In addition, I watched a great mainland movie called "Shower" (Xi-Zhao, but should be more appropriately translated to "Bath House") this weekend. It's a wonderfully touching drama that I highly recommend.

Beeeil

gabegarwick

FWIW, Here's a review I did of Jiang Hu...

I enjoyed it. Something a bit different, pleasant dark humor...

cheers,
Gabe

Trigger

Ok - I've seen alot of those, and some I've already written up reviews for... If you could do a search by putting the name of your film in the keyword box and then put my name in the search by user box and search by any date - you might find that I've done a review of it already... But I don't mind linking so if it's a hassle nevermind. I would ask though that you only give me like one or two at a time cuz giving me a list of 10 films to watch will just make my crabs itch. Anyway - luckily I've seen most of the ones you want reviews for already so here goes...

Electrical Girl
Visible Secret
In The Mood For Love
Love on a Diet
<a href=http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=155064">Needing You

Fight Back To School - Ahh yes... The Fight Back to School trilogy... I didn't like these as much as I thought I would. They seemed to get progressively worse each sequel. Most people seem to highly regard these films as among Stephen Chow's best, but they just didn't strike me the same way. I did like the first one though... I'd give it a 6.5/10 or 7/10 and a . The sequels kinda fell apart. I thought the first one was good too until the ending I think - it's been awhile since I watched them. Stephen Chow is an undercover cop who goes back to high school as a student in order to uncover something... can't remember what... There were some really good moments in it as I recall, but I just wouldn't put it in the same class as his best stuff. I'd say this film is about as good as Lung Fung Restaurant if that helps. I have been meaning to give it another chance though - so maybe I'll pop it in again and let you know.

Lung Fung Restauraunt - This was pretty good. I don't remember much about it... I do remember it being funny. It wasn't his best though. If I give it another spin, I'll post my thoughts when they are fresh. I remember a few scenes and I remember them as being very funny... I wouldn't say it's in the class of his best films like Royal Tramp, God of Cookery or Shaolin Soccer etc... but it's above average.

Lavender - This movie I couldn't quite finish... it's about Kelly Chen running an aroma therapy shop and unlucky in love and an angel falls from the sky and lands in her balcony. She lets him stay with her for awhile until he feels better and he gets into trouble. It was pretty lame I thought... I suppose I can't give it a score since I didn't quite finish it - I had gotten about 3/4 of the way through though. There are much better films than this one that's for sure. Perhaps the women will like it more than I did. I found a few moments to be decent, but overall it was just a stinker.

Fong Sai Yuk - I wrote my thoughts on this one back in the Hong Kong threads before we took over the international forum. I couldn't find my review though so I'll tell you my thoughts as best as I can remember. Anyway - this is one of Jet Li's best films. I'll spare you the synopsis, but I'll tell you that the action is top notch - it's wire-fu though so if you're not into that, then look elsewhere... The plot is enjoyable and the comedy is mature rather than goofy. The relationship between Jet Li and Josephine Siao who plays his mother is fantastic. She's amazing. Michelle Reis is also great as the love interest. If you liked Legend of Drunken Master at all for the relationship between Wong and his mother, you'll love FSY. The sequel is not quite as good, but it's still very enjoyable. I'd give the first one 9/10 and the sequel I'd give an 8/10. Both are must-have's and both deserve

Shiri - I have both editions of this DVD. The 2 disc is by far worth getting over the DTS version - no question. This is a really slick actioneer from Korea. The action is pretty tight and the story is ok. This is a case of style over substance which seems to be a running theme with Korean cinema. If you like Time and Tide or Purple Storm at all - this one should be on your shopping list. The relationships between the characters is interesting. The sound is amazing too. The beginning of the film is one of the more brutal openings to a film you're likely to see. Lots of blood and gore in this film. For a synopsis - it's basically about a couple of cops trying to thwart a terrorist assasination and there's plenty of gunfights and betrayals. It's for sure a and I'd rate it an 8/10.

Zu : Warriors from the magic mountain - ok it's been awhile since I saw this one, but I remember enough to tell you what I thought. It's basically the film that put Tsui Hark on the map. It's a period fantasy film from the 80's, but it has some of the most ambitious special effects ever seen out of Hong Kong - in fact they rivaled what was being done in Hollywood. It's a really fun ride and would be a good film for the entire family. Adults and children would both love this film. It ages pretty well because it was so ahead of its time. I wouldn't hesitate to pick this one up because it's quite enjoyable. Now - I should say though that the characters are a little simple, but this was done in such a way so that it could appeal to children... I assure you though that it's fun for adults as well. 8/10

Tokyo Raiders - This film is simply a must have. I love this movie. It's alot of fun. I know I wrote a review of this somewhere, but I can't find it. This film won't be for everybody, but I certainly found it to be alot of fun. There are alot of films that are like this film in spirit... This is one of those films that you use to say "such and such a film is alot like Tokyo Raiders". It has elements of James Bond type films and it's pretty stylish. It's not something that's going to stimulate you intellectually, but it's fun. There's some decent kung fu in it, but nothing special. As a whole, I enjoyed this film enough to give it another 8/10... certainly a I preferred Time and Tide to this one, but they are completely different films. Tokyo Raiders falls under the category of "stylish/hip Hong Kong action film". If you hate films like Charlie's Angels because you don't like to turn off your brain to watch a movie, then skip this one... If that's the case, I could give you a long list of films to skip that I find fun to watch as well.

Downtown Torpedoes - On my list. I watched Skyline Cruisers and posted my thoughts on it - you can read that review if you click on it.

Moon Warriors - I started watching this one months ago and it looked really good - I haven't had a chance to pop it in again though. I remember it being sort of a cross between Bride With White Hair and Butterfly and Sword kinda. I'll put this in my list to watch.

Comrades-Almost a love story - On my list.

A Moment of Romance - On my list.

Jiang Hu - I'll put this and Tempting Heart in my list to review as long as you promise to stop being a jerk.

As Tears Go By - On my list - I watched Ashes of Time last night and will post a review sometime today.

Days of Being Dumb - oddly enough this one is already on deck waiting to be watched... it's gonna be watched after Fly Me To Polaris.