What asian film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[HungFist]

Reviewed these two before, but here are the capsules for those who can't be bothered the read the full versions...

Yakuza Weapon (Japan, 2011) – 2/5
Cult-house Sushi Typhoon misfires with an attempted Versus beater. The old gang is back, minus director Kitamura, but times have changed. Loaded with CGI and over-the-top humor, the film ridicules itself to the point of boredom. Unlike true trash classics that retain a certain level of pseudo-seriousness, Yakuza Weapon is an on-your-face action comedy made for audiences that normally wouldn’t get the joke. The saving grace is occasional strong action bits choreographed by Yuji Shimomura, and Tak Sakaguchi’s nutty yakuza performance.
- in more detail: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5826

Underwater Love (Japan, 2011) – 4/5
A pink musical shot by the world’s most famous cinematographer, scored by a German-French pop-duo, and decorated with special effects by Japan’s most celebrated make-up/splatter maestro, isn’t quite the most usual sight. Of course, Underwater Love isn’t that much of a real pink film, but a German co-financed oddity that brings together Shinji Imaoka, Christopher Doyle, Stereo Total, and Yoshihiro Nishimura. The outcome is unexpectedly successful – an honest love letter to silly cinema, and a lovely fantasy romance with catchy musical numbers. Energetic performances and stylish visuals add to the film that was shot in only four days. A small gem of j-kitsch, but not a hipster product, although bound to be mislabeled as such by the less educated audiences.
- in more detail: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5992

[Killer Meteor]

HEART OF THE DRAGON (1985)

The bad remix on the HKL makes it hard to really sum up the fight scenes (the fx is so quiet it really exposes the undercranking), but as far as narrative and direction goes, this is quite a moving drama, though its shift into the action finale does feel a bit abrupt. Great performances from all concerned, and a lovely theme song.

6/10 (mark will likely go up if I see this with the mono track)

[luckystars]

You'll need to find the UK Widescreen VHS to get the mono.

I loved the film more the last time I saw it. I think it's one of the crowning achievements of the era, and blends high action with ott drama (but not melodrama).

[Yi-Long]

Heart of the Dragon was OK, with a nice role for Sammo, and a great ending by Yuen Biao with probably the most 'intense' Jackie we've seen in that fight...

[grim_tales]

I thought Sammo gave a good performance in that movie, touching and sad...

[Keung]

Mismatched Couples - ★★½
Those Merry Souls - ★★★
The Wedding Campaign - ★★★★
Versus - ★★★★

[Markgway]

I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK. (2006-South Korea)

Gave up on this piffle after 30-40 mins.

[HungFist]

I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK. (2006-South Korea)

Gave up on this piffle after 30-40 mins.

I wish I had, too.

[Yi-Long]

Yeah, I think I fell asleep during that movie. I thought it sucked as well. My girlfriend likes Rain but even she didn't care for the movie.

[saltysam]

...

[gasteropod]

Well I love I'm a Cyborg so fuck you all

[Killer Meteor]

Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953) – 2/5
The “Anti-Christ’s” most famous work – the archetype of dry and classy Japanese family movie that, as Sion Sono put it, inspired Japanese cinema to become more boring. Has its moments, though, the onsen sequence is quite captivating. Voted by Kinema Junpo as the best Japanese film of all time.

The Human Condition (Japan, 1959-1961) – 4.5/5
Masaki Kobayashi’s 9.5 hour war film is quite possibly the most epic movie ever made. Released as three films, the story follows the young and idealistic Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) who tries to bring some sense and humanity to a wartime labor camp he works at – until he’s drafted and sent to front line. While a little longer than it needs to be (certain points are unnecessarily repeated) the film is an extremely strong pacifist statement Nakadai is amazing in the lead role, the film’s scope is exceptional, and the beautiful cinematography even resembles Terrence Malick’s films in places. The film’s battle scenes, especially in the second film, are also among the best ever shot. Were they made today, they’ve be filled with CGI. The Human Condition, despite its small flaws, is one of the strongest movie experiences one can ever have!



more screencaptures: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5085&p=161277#p161277

TOKYO STORY is frequently listed as one of the true greats of cinema...which often doesn't mean much to me!

[Xenon]

Mr. Vampire (aka Geung si sin sang) (1985) - all around awesome. Great comedy, nice action and Ching-Ying Lam (R.I.P.) is awesome (but you already knew that). Not a boring moment to be found here, folks. 8/10

Mr. Vampire 2 (aka Jiang shi jia zu: Jiang shi xian sheng xu ji) (1986) - I died a little inside watching this. Absolutely fucking dreadful. Comedy fails HARD, not much action and Ching-Ying Lam only appears mid-way into the movie and even he seems bored with this crapfest. Fuck this movie to hell. 1/10

Mr. Vampire 3 (aka Ling huan xian sheng) (1987) - not as good as the first one, but thankfully far from being a trainwreck that was Mr. Vampire 2. Nice action, comedy is 50/50 and Ching-Ying Lam is into the role. Sadly, the subs on the DVD were atrocious. 6/10

King of Thorn (2009) - I didn't expect much and I certainly didn't get much. Nice idea completely ruined by making the plot so convoluted that you have no idea what a hell is going on anymore. Hoped this to be better than manga (which also had potential before going into convolutivesville), but it wasn't. Now that I think about it, it was even worse. Certainly different but different is necessarily better. Animation was quite dodgy at some places too. 4/10

Armitage III: Dual Matrix - WORST. DVD. PRESENTATION. EVER. This anime originally has 4:3 aspect ratio, but for some reason, someone thought "HEY EARL, MAYBE WE SHOULD LIKE IMPLEMENT SOME THINGY INTO THIS DVD THAT WOULD CROP THE BOTTOM AND THE TOP OF THE PICTURE, WHEN IT'S VIEWED ON A WIDESCREEN TELLY, HUH?". I'm being dead serious here. The picture was cropped just because I have a widescreen TV... I could stand like 20 or 30 mins of it. n/10

[gasteropod]

In the Mood for Love (2000) - 4/5

[bradavon]

In the Mood for Love (2000) - 4/5

I wish Tartan or Criterion would hurry up and release this on blu-ray, assuming both still have the rights.

[Killer Meteor]

Mr. Vampire (aka Geung si sin sang) (1985) - all around awesome. Great comedy, nice action and Ching-Ying Lam (R.I.P.) is awesome (but you already knew that). Not a boring moment to be found here, folks. 8/10

Mr. Vampire 2 (aka Jiang shi jia zu: Jiang shi xian sheng xu ji) (1986) - I died a little inside watching this. Absolutely fucking dreadful. Comedy fails HARD, not much action and Ching-Ying Lam only appears mid-way into the movie and even he seems bored with this crapfest. Fuck this movie to hell. 1/10

Mr. Vampire 3 (aka Ling huan xian sheng) (1987) - not as good as the first one, but thankfully far from being a trainwreck that was Mr. Vampire 2. Nice action, comedy is 50/50 and Ching-Ying Lam is into the role. Sadly, the subs on the DVD were atrocious. 6/10

King of Thorn (2009) - I didn't expect much and I certainly didn't get much. Nice idea completely ruined by making the plot so convoluted that you have no idea what a hell is going on anymore. Hoped this to be better than manga (which also had potential before going into convolutivesville), but it wasn't. Now that I think about it, it was even worse. Certainly different but different is necessarily better. Animation was quite dodgy at some places too. 4/10

Armitage III: Dual Matrix - WORST. DVD. PRESENTATION. EVER. This anime originally has 4:3 aspect ratio, but for some reason, someone thought "HEY EARL, MAYBE WE SHOULD LIKE IMPLEMENT SOME THINGY INTO THIS DVD THAT WOULD CROP THE BOTTOM AND THE TOP OF THE PICTURE, WHEN IT'S VIEWED ON A WIDESCREEN TELLY, HUH?". I'm being dead serious here. The picture was cropped just because I have a widescreen TV... I could stand like 20 or 30 mins of it. n/10

Lam Ching-ying, not Ching-ying Lam

[HungFist]

Lam Ching-ying, not Ching-ying Lam

Wouldn't that be a matter of preference? Most people would use Lam Ching-ying, but IMDb probably reverses it to western format...

As for Mr. Vampires, the 1st is a classic of course, but the 4th one is quite good, too. The bad thing about the 4th one is the extra cost that comes when you have to track down Sex & Zen 2 after watching it

I rather liked part 2, too. Part 3 not so much, although it had Richard Ng!!!

[Markgway]

Mr. Vampire II is good, but one has to accept it's a kid's movie.
If you expect hardcore action or horror you'll be bitterly disappointed.
The 3rd and 4th movies were OK; the 5th (Vampire vs Vampire) a step up.

I always put Chinese surnames first, same with Koreans.
But Japanese surnames I westernise (which seems to be the norm for some reason).
Eg. Yukari Oshima, Takeshi Kaneshiro or Yasuaki Kuarata.

[gasteropod]

I wish Tartan or Criterion would hurry up and release this on blu-ray, assuming both still have the rights.

Yeah I know, I stuck on my Kino Blu-ray of Fallen Angels last night, would be great if they could release more (I've got Happy Together as well).

[bradavon]

Wouldn't that be a matter of preference? Most people would use Lam Ching-ying, but IMDb probably reverses it to western format...

IMDB is American! Americans routinely list bands with The at the start of their name under T and only tools do that.

It's a Chinese name, we should follow their rules on how they want their names to be written. The same goes for Zhang Ziyi and Wong Kar-Wai. Who calls him Kar-Wai Wong for Christ sake? No one.

[HungFist]

Who calls him Kar-Wai Wong for Christ sake? No one.

The world's biggest movie database does

[bradavon]

Case in point.

[Killer Meteor]

Actually...the IMDB was founded by Brits.

[Killer Meteor]

I actually do Chinese names like Surname-name, but Japanese names like Forename-Surname. The westerns standard is actually to have surname first in Chinese names, IMDB probably does it because of their encoding.

[bradavon]

Actually...the IMDB was founded by Brits.

I didn't know that. It's run by yanks now though.

The westerns standard is actually to have surname first in Chinese names

I don't think so. Yhang Ziyi is known as Yiyi Zhang in Hollywood etc..

IMDB probably does it because of their encoding.

Possibly.