Trigger

I reviewed Quiet Family, Fat Choi Spirit and Chinese Oddyssey 2002 here. Post a link to your review of Quiet Family. I read it, but I'd like to see it again to compare.

Trigger

I watched a bunch tonight...

Fighting To Survive - Very funny movie about a guy who can't get over his fear of motorized transportation long enough to leave the town where he's from. He's always trying to come up with a get-rich-quick scheme which typically involves multilevel marketing. He becomes friends with a group of goofs and freaks and they start a bodyguard business. It's a silly movie. It's alot of fun too. I highly recommend it. 7.5/10

Salon Beauty - Turned it off after 5 minutes... it's a porn. Filmed with a digital handheld video camera. Worthless waste of money... well, I can't say that for sure, maybe it's funny or something because it's so bad. I really didn't watch the whole thing, so I can't give an educated opinion on it. I would avoid anyway because it looked bad.

Buddy Friends - same company that made Salon Beauty made this one. Digital handheld camera again... looks like a home movie. I only watched the trailer and threw it on the floor. Looks like crap. Not even a movie. Again - don't take this opinion as anything since I didn't actually watch it.

Inner Senses - this movie kicked ass. Very scary and creepy. Great pacing and good direction - for a hong kong movie anyway. HK horror movies tend to lack... well everything. This one had it all. The ending was a major let down for me because they went overboard with effects and just "showed too much" for their own good. Still, the rest of the movie except for the last 5 minutes deserves an 8/10. Overall, it gets a 7/10 and a from me for being hella scary in parts. I highly recommend to those who like horror.

Beauty and the Breast - Working off the success of La Brassiere, Francis Ng and Daniel Wu star as two flamboyant "heterosexual" men in a female dominated workplace. They are womanizers yet we are supposed to sympathise with their situations. The big joke is they end up with boobs for awhile. Har Har... The movie was mildly amusing, but nothing new. Worth watching I guess if you have a thing for any of the actors in the film, but entirely passable. La Brassiere was better even though it too was a little bland. I give Beauty and the Breast a / just because it wasn't terrible as it barely passes with a 5.5/10... maybe a 6/10.

I watched a few more the other night and I don't think I shared my thoughts on them...

Dry Wood Fierce Fire - now that I think about it, I probably reviewed this somewhere... I really liked it. Much better than Love Undercover. I think I liked it more than Dummy Mommy... not sure.

Out of the Dark - I got this on VCD... it's excellent. Stephen Chow plays a cartoon version of Leon from The Professional who lives in an insane assylum and also able to see and hunt ghosts. He develops a small following of believers and a bunch of crazy stuff happens... anyway - it's totally worth picking up. 8/10

All For The Winner - Stephen Chow's much talked-about film still not available on DVD. I picked up the VCD. This film is really not that great in my opinion. It's worth watching at least to serve as an "origin" film for alot of the gags that plague the rest of his films since then. It's not really crucial Stephen Chow watching material unless you're a die-hard fan of his (like me). It is funny and deserves at least a 6.5/10. A half-hearted on this one. Part of the reason it's hard to recommend is because the VCD is kinda lousy. Well, it's a VCD. Same goes for Out of the Dark with regard to the VCD being crappy. I just thought that Out of the Dark was a little more unique among Stephen Chow's catalog of films and is more worth watching. Top Bet is available on DVD and although Stephen Chow is barely in it (I don't even remember seeing him), it's still pretty decent and is very similar to All For the Winner. AFTW is among Stephen Chow's good films, but just not in the same league as his best. Still deserves a DVD release for sure.

Sleazy Dizzy - Stephen Chow film on VCD with no subtitles. I was really disappointed that I couldn't understand what was being said so I chucked it across the room.

Fist of Fury 1991 - Stephen Chow again - watched this a while ago... I remember it being really hilarious in some scenes.

roseart

Thanks. Just added Fighting To Survive to my next order.

I'm reallt intrigued by Out of the Dark. Where did you pick this up? Couldn't find it on DDD.

Trigger

I got it from Sensasian for 6 bucks. That's the only place I could find it. The VCD is fairly poor in quality, but it's the only way I know of to see it for now. Knowing my luck, it'll come out on DVD in a month. Someone should email mei Ah about it.

Trigger

I finally got my Korean shipment.

I watched a few tonight...

Attack The Gas Station - I've reviewed this before, so I'll spare you my thoughts of the film other than to say that I like it and I don't know why. The Korean DVD is very nice. The picture is great and the sound is good. The subtitles aren't quite as good as the HK version though I don't think. The sentences make a little more sense, but then the HK DVD provides translations for a few signs where this version leaves the translation off. Anyway - other than that it's the best way to watch the film. The HK DVD isn't as good, but for 5 bucks it's easily worth it. The Korean version should be only for big fans of the movie.

Gemini - only got through the first act on this one... my girlfriend finally passed out from exhaustion, so we gave up. It's kinda slow moving and the misleading trailer makes you think it's a creepy Japanese horror/weirdo movie. It's pretty weird, but so far is just moving at a snail's pace. I'll be wanting to watch it another time for sure because I'm interested, but I'm in no hurry. Basically so far it's about a successful doctor who was apparently separated at birth with his twin and their lives took vastly different turns. His brother throws him down a well and takes over his life. That's about where I'm at. It'll probably get stranger, but so far it's just blah...

My Sassy Girl - I'll post a better review in a seperate thread if someone thinks I should, but I just want to get my basic thoughts down. I don't think that many people read this thread anymore. Anyway - This one's really cute. It's about boy meets girl, girl pukes, boy goes to jail, girl beats up boy, boy and girl fall in love, boy loses girl, etc... Anyway - it's really cute. Very touching at the end. The "Sassy" girl is the object of affection here and she's constantly emasculating this guy throughout the film. It's a perfect "date" movie and I put it up in the same class as films like Ditto and Il Mare for being so touching and also up there with I Wish I Had a Wife for being also comical. You'll laugh, you'll cry... just buy it. The Korean DVD comes stacked - it's a 2 disc set with the second disc being supplements (not subtitled). The picture and sound are fantastic. I'm really impressed with this lot of Korean DVDs. 8/10 - Highly Recommended.

Sorum - we watched about 15 minutes of this hoping for a suspenseful horror film and it wasn't moving quick enough for us so we popped something else in. It looks like it'll probably be good, but so far it's really moving slow. The DVD is really nice though.

My Life as McDull - Watched this a few weeks ago and can't find where I commented on it... so I'm not sure if I have or not. I liked it. It's an animated narrative more or less about a kid remembering his youth. The story is compelling and the animation is cute without being cutesy. It's quite funny and works on enough levels for adults and children to enjoy it. The animation is solid - very well done. It was probably all done on computer, but made to look like it was drawn and then merged with cgi looking scenes. Very nice. 7.5/10 - Highly Recommend to those who like animated films.

I'm checking out Nowhere To Hide and either Partners or My Boss My Hero next... I may post the review in a seperate thread and include my expanded thoughts on Sassy Girl. Sheesh - I'm already tired... Hope Nowhere To Hide can keep me awake. If not, I'll give it another go tomorrow.

roseart

My Boss, My Hero I loved it...

I am curious to hear about Partners..

Nowhere to Hide really didn't do it for me. I think I went into it expecting to much. I really liked the lead character though...

Trigger

Nowhere To Hide - As you said, the lead character was fantastic. He's the Korean John Belushi. I'm still not sure whether I liked it or not... maybe tonight I'll post a seperate review of this and Sassy Girl. Nowhere To Hide was all style and very little substance. The story was thin and all the camerawork and directorial styles were borrowed from everywhere and yet it still managed to be fairly innovative and original. It was basically a brainless action cops chase criminals action movie with arthouse cinema direction. Odd mix, but very interesting...

Full reviews of Sassy Girl and Nowhere To Hide here

Trigger

I added a review of Musa to the review thread I posted above in case anyone wanted to read my thoughts on that too.

Trigger

I watched Kick The Moon the other night, so if anyone wants my thoughts on it - long review or short review - feel free to ask (preferably while it's still fresh in my head)

I'll try and get to Partners today and I'll probably be watching Bunjee Jumping of Their Own tonight with my girlfriend.

gabegarwick

Yeah! Me! Me! I'd like to hear about Kick the Moon.
I've had it on several 'order lists' in the past, but it's been bumped off a couple times for other titles... (It's not yet in my 'must buy' category).

Thanks,
GAbe

Trigger

Moved the Kick the Moon review to this thread and added reviews for A Bunjee Jumping of Their Own, AFRIKA and April Story.

Trigger

I watched a few more tonight...

Take Care of My Cat

This film left me depressed for some reason. It made me think about old friends I don't talk to anymore. It's about 5 girls who exit high-school together and slowly drift apart. I kinda liked it, but it's just another slow-moving slice of life drama. If that's your thing then you might want to pick it up. The Korean DVD is great. 6/10 and a half-hearted

My Boss, My Hero

This film is kinda like Fight Back To School where a guy has to go back to high school and fit in or whatever except it's not very funny and it's a mobster instead of a special forces guy going undercover. The film has the potential to be very funny and some of it is intended to make the audience laugh, but overall it takes itself way too seriously and it doesn't end up being so humorous. So this mob boss is required to go back to school to get an education by his superior because things like the internet and whatnot are making it tougher to be a gangster these days I guess. The school is pretty corrupt and the students give him a hard time at first. There's alot of teachers hitting students and students hitting students and alot of fighting and it's almost like being a subordinate gangster again.

I really didn't get that much out of it. It's filmed nicely and the acting is okay, I just think it gets too serious for its own good. I would've liked it much more if they had focused on the fish out of water comedy that could've come from the situation they set up. They also may have gotten caught up a little bit with the Attack the Gas Station idea that fighting is funny - but in this case it just wasn't. Also - I don't know if you've seen many Korean films, but the fighting in them can't hold a candle to fighting in Hong Kong films. Fights in Korean movies are mostly just one guy slapping the top of another guy's head. They're probably a little more realistic than most movies are, but that doesn't make them very exciting to watch.

The DVD is nice except it's hard to navigate through the menus unless you read Korean. It was simply trial and error for me. Subtitles are good as is the audio and video. I think there are lots of extras, but they won't do me any good. 2 discs and I was lucky to find the movie on the first disc.

6.5/10 just because it wasn't a total loss. Some people might really like it.

Art Museum By The Zoo

Sappy romance. A guy comes home to his girlfriend's apartment after being in the military to find that she has moved away. He kinda pushes himself into the life of the girl that is living there now and they develop a bizarre relationship of circumstances while he tries to sort out what's going on with his girlfriend. His girlfriend apparently decided she didn't want to wait for him anymore and decides to meet someone else. He ends up staying with this new girl who now lives in his old apartment. They are both pretty plain and there's not much to like about them. She's homely - not very pretty and quite the slob. He's rude and mean and far too blunt to strangers. She likes going to art museums and he likes going to the zoo.

I didn't find it all that romantic or charming and it moved kinda slow. The Korean DVD is nice though as usual.

5/10 simply because there are better romance movies out there. This one is okay and maybe it deserves a higher score and it's just that I'm growing tired of these Korean straight-forward romance dramas - someone else might like it more than I did. You're safe to pass on it though.

Trigger

Actually, I had already watched like 2/3s of this when you asked for a review and had forgotten that I'd seen it. I watched it tonight just for you. It's a steaming pile of sh**. Not as bad as Wesley's Mysterious File, but it's still really friggin lame. No wonder I had forgotton that I'd seen most of it already. Michael Wong is proving himself to be the worst actor in HK... he speaks mostly English in this and it just makes it so obvious to me how horrible he is as an actor. He should be a dentist instead of an actor. He spends most of the movie wearing Stallone's Cobra sunglasses and peering through a camera or making pathetic advances at some girl. The movie is about a group of four guys that robs banks with guns. They all die. The end. Don't waste your time. I'd be happy to elaborate on the suckiness of this film if you still aren't sure.

roseart

Nope, that's enough. Thanks

Down to 17 for my next order...

Here is my next order, when I have the funds. Is there anything else that needs to drop????:

- Uzumaki
- Conman In Tokyo
- Ashes Of Time
- The Quiet Family
- Space Travelers
- A True Mob Story
- Days of being Wild
- Pulse
- Cross Fire
- Rules of the Game
- Princess-D
- Green Fish
- Soul Gaurdians
- Inner Senses
- No. 3
- Peace Hotel
- Fighting To Survive

Trigger

Hmm...

- Uzumaki - (St. John's Wort is better... this one isn't scary, but it's bizarre and cool)
- Conman In Tokyo -
- Ashes Of Time -
- The Quiet Family -
- Space Travelers -
- A True Mob Story - ?
- Days of being Wild - ?
- Pulse -
- Cross Fire - ? (but it's on my latest order)
- Rules of the Game - ?
- Princess-D -
- Green Fish - ? (but I've ordered it)
- Soul Gaurdians - ?
- Inner Senses - (except for the closing minutes)
- No. 3 - ? (on my latest order)
- Peace Hotel - ? (on order)
- Fighting To Survive -

roseart

???

roseart

Nevermind. Down to 16 now. Get it down a couple more and I might be able to place an order...

Trigger

- A True Mob Story - Dump it. Wong Jing's departure from silly and into the Triad genre is pretty mediocre and nothing special from what I've heard.
- Rules of the Game - Actually heard some really good things about this - I think I have it but haven't watched it.
- Soul Gaurdians - I forgot that I have this and watched it - it's kinda blah - kinda lame. Armageddon (HK) type film. Cheesey and not that scary. It was okay, but nothing memorable.
- Peace Hotel - Dump it - I've just read a bunch of mediocre to bad reviews for it. Disappointing last HK film for CYF before heading off to Hollywood.

You have too many Triad movies - you'll induce vomiting.

roseart

Ok, dropped:

- A True Mob Story
- Peace Hotel
- Soul Gaurdians

Keeping

- Rules of the Game

Down to 13. Think I might be ordering soon. Thanks Trigger

benedict

Perhaps anything current could be summarised in the first post of a "part three" (plus links to this thread and the first) then <small>Report This Post</small> and I'll lock up here....


Benedict